Norfolk, Va.-based CI Travel today announced it acquired Nicholas Travel of Chesapeake, Va., making Nicholas president Chris Nicholas vice president of corporate sales and head of CI Travel's corporate meetings and incentives department.
Nicholas Travel's clients—which include research firm Jefferson Lab and television program producer New Dominion Pictures—will continue to work with their established agents and all staff will become employees of CI Travel, a part of the American Express travel network.
"Our two companies share a similar vision and philosophy," Kevin McElroy, president and COO of CI Travel, said in a statement. "This merger is part of several actions we have or will be taking to continue the strong growth we have experienced during the past decade."
This year, CI Travel ranked 13th among the 35 agencies that provided their 2005 Airlines Reporting Corp. transactions for
Business Travel News' annual Business Travel Survey
(BTN, May 29). Nicholas Travel, which claims annual sales of $9 million travel agency, less than one-tenth of the sales volume of CI Travel.