Skift Take
Internova Travel Group is owned by private equity firm Certares, and its CEO is the brother of Certares' CEO. How they are thinking about company strategy reflects insight into broader trends among the luxury travel agencies.
Internova Travel Group, a network of travel agencies owned by private equity firm Certares, plans to expand its investments in the luxury space. That will help give its more than 100,000 travel advisors more boutique hotel offerings and packages to offer customers.
"We'll continue to double down on the luxury space," said J.D. O’Hara, CEO of Internova — a network of over 6,000 agencies.
The luxury travel advisor space has several players, including Virtuoso, Amex's Ovation, Scott Dunn, Abercrombie & Kent, Tully Luxury Travel, and Black Tomato.
It was highly unusual for a private equity firm to invest in the luxury travel agency sector when Certares acquired Internova in early 2020.
Certares, led by O'Hara's brother Greg O'Hara, is a heavy investor in travel, holding stakes in companies that include Hertz, American Express Global Business Travel, Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, LATAM Airlines Group, AmaWaterways, Voyageurs du Monde, Avoya, G Adventures, AHI Travel, and roughly a dozen hotels. Its broad travel hold