Former Travel Republic boss weighs up options to return to travel

Kane Pirie is looking to get back into travel and says he is weighing up a number of investment opportunities.

Kane Pirie is looking to get back into travel and says he is weighing up a number of investment opportunities.

The former boss of Travel Republic told the Barclays audience of 300 senior travel executives that he missed the industry and has a “Travel Republic-sized hole in his life”.

Pirie’s time in charge of Travel Republic almost landed him in jail when the firm was prosecuted by the CAA for breaching Atol rules. However, Travel Republic was found not guilty and the Atol rules were later updated to cover dynamic packages.

Pirie said he had had some offers to invest in companies but “it took time to find the right one”.

He added he expected long-haul to prosper this year as holidaymakers’ habits changed.

But he claimed there was an opportunity for someone to be really aggressive on price in short-haul and that it was possible to make money in the sector.