Leading travel agents ranked by number of outlets in the UK 2025

As of January 2025, Hays Travel was the travel agent in the United Kingdom with the highest number of retail travel shops, operating 489 outlets. TUI and Independent ABTA Agents followed behind, with 329 and 278 shops, respectively. Meanwhile, in fourth place was Advantage, which, along with other travel agencies in the ranking, is part of Advantage Travel Partnership, the UK's leading consortium of independent travel agencies. 

TUI is one of the largest ATOL-licensed tour operators in the UK

Part of the German-based travel and tourism group TUI AG, TUI UK is one of the major players in the travel agency and tour operator industry in the United Kingdom. As of January 2025, the firm ranked as one of the leading ATOL-licensed tour operators in the UK based on the number of passengers licensed. Although the group was heavily impacted by the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the annual revenue of TUI UK Limited bounced back and exceeded pre-pandemic levels in 2023.

How big are the travel agency and tour operator markets in the UK?

The market size of the travel agency industry in the UK totaled nearly 30 billion British pounds as of October 2024. In the same period, the market size of the UK's tour operator sector was around 17 billion British pounds. In terms of employment, the travel agency industry was also over double the size of the tour operator sector, with approximately 55,000 employees, compared to around 26,000 workers.