How much is a travel agency worth in Australia? The commission and fees it keeps set the price, not the bookings it handles.

The short answer

A travel agency is priced as a multiple of its maintainable earnings, and those earnings come from the commission and fees it keeps, not from total transaction value (TTV), which is mostly clients' money passing through to suppliers. We found no reliable published multiple for a typical independent agency. The disclosed figures found are one ASX-listed buyer's purchases of much larger groups operating in Australia, at about 5 to 7 times earnings in 2023 and 2025.

What moves one agency's price is how durable its income is: corporate contract terms, supplier overrides, network consent, which post-COVID years are representative, and whether clients belong to the agency or its consultants.

Is a travel agency priced on total transaction value or on commission and fees?

A valuer prices an agency on the commission and fees it keeps, not on TTV; a TTV rule of thumb counts only once reconciled to maintainable earnings. Helloworld's results for the year to 30 June 2026 (FY2026) state that TTV is the price at which travel is sold as agent for airlines and other suppliers and does not represent revenue or cash received.

In FY2026 Helloworld reported revenue of 5.1 per cent of TTV, and Flight Centre reported 9.3 per cent for its corporate division and 11.4 per cent for leisure. A multiple of TTV would price very different incomes alike.

What multiple do travel agencies sell for in Australia?

We found no reliable published multiple for a typical independent agency. The disclosed figures found come from one ASX-listed buyer, Helloworld, for groups operating in Australia that are much larger than a single-owner agency, at about 5 to 7 times earnings.

The releases describe earnings differently and none says whether any of the price is deferred or contingent; the Adelaide release adds an option over a further 10 per cent within three years, and the Express Travel Group price was paid partly in shares. None is a market multiple for an agency with one owner.

Is a corporate travel business worth more than a leisure agency?

Not automatically. Flight Centre's FY2026 results show the two earn differently: corporate TTV of $12.7 billion produced revenue of $1.2 billion and underlying EBITDA of $275 million, while leisure TTV of $12.6 billion produced revenue of $1.4 billion and underlying EBITDA of $250 million.

For corporate income a valuer tests contract expiry and tender dates, the share of fees from the largest client, and wins not yet trading: Flight Centre said 45 per cent of its corporate division's $1.6 billion FY2026 new account pipeline was secured in the fourth quarter and would not begin trading until later in FY2027. For leisure income the tests are repeat business and which consultant holds each large relationship. Helloworld's announcements for Mobile Travel Agents and Express Travel Group both name existing people staying on or advising.

Do network agreements and supplier overrides pass to a buyer?

Not automatically: they pass on the terms of the network agreement, which may need the network's consent to a change of owner. A buyer asks whether each override is contracted with the agency or through a network, because network-contracted income follows the membership.

If a network membership is a franchise under the Franchising Code of Conduct (section 7), the franchisor must not unreasonably withhold consent to a transfer and is taken to consent if it has not refused in writing within 42 days of the request (or of the last further information it asked for, if later) (sections 48 and 49). Other memberships, and a share sale, depend on the agreement's own assignment and change-of-control terms, a matter for a lawyer.

Overrides can fall in a year: Flight Centre listed reduced supplier incentives, as key carriers were grounded, among the reasons its leisure revenue margin fell from 11.9 to 11.4 per cent in FY2026. A valuer prices overrides on the contract term left to run, not last year's receipts.

Which years count when valuing a travel agency after COVID?

For a valuation in late 2026 the strongest evidence is usually FY2024 to FY2026, with the collapse years adjusted or excluded and the rebound year tested. The ABS counted Australian residents returning from short trips abroad at 11.23 million in FY2019, 0.22 million in FY2021, 1.59 million in FY2022, 8.34 million in FY2023, 10.99 million in FY2024 and a record 12.71 million in FY2026. These count trips, not agency income.

The ABS dates the fall from March 2020 and the end of border restrictions to February 2022, so FY2020 to FY2022 carry the collapse and any subsidy-supported trading, and FY2023 is a rebound year. FY2026 needs testing too: Flight Centre and Helloworld both reported that the Middle East conflict hit the June 2026 quarter. A five-year window to June 2026 still includes FY2022 and FY2023, so the report states which years are weighted and why.

Does a travel agency need a licence or ATAS accreditation in Australia?

No travel agent licence is needed, and accreditation under the Australian Travel Accreditation Scheme (ATAS) is voluntary. State licensing was repealed in 2014, and the Travel Compensation Fund stopped accepting claims for travel paid for from 1 July 2014. The Australian Federation of Travel Agents launched ATAS that year; as the Australian Travel Industry Association (ATIA) since August 2023 it runs the scheme, and participants hold the designation ATIA Accredited.

Under the ATAS Charter of 3 February 2026, an accredited business must tell ATIA within 7 days of a material change to its shareholder structure or any change of directors, or risk cancellation; shareholders and directors face a fit-and-proper test with a 10-year look-back; 50 per cent of consumer-facing staff must hold recognised training; and client money must sit in a separate client or trust account, except for listed companies and sole traders. A buyer checks that accreditation survives the sale and reconciles the client account.

A worked example: what an override and a network consent do to the price

Illustration only: a made-up agency books about $10,000,000 of travel a year; that TTV plays no part in the price. Its commission and fee revenue was $950,000 in FY2024, $1,000,000 in FY2025 and $1,050,000 in FY2026, an average of $1,000,000; FY2023, a rebound year, gets no weight. Costs before any owner's wage are $700,000, leaving $300,000, and a market wage of $120,000 for the owner's role leaves maintainable EBITDA of $180,000.

Of the $1,000,000, $100,000 is overrides paid through a network whose consent a sale needs. If a buyer assumes the overrides halve, revenue falls by $50,000 and maintainable EBITDA to $130,000. At an assumed multiple of 4, chosen just to show the arithmetic and not a benchmark, the price falls from $720,000 ($180,000 times 4) to $520,000 ($130,000 times 4), a difference of $200,000.

When the number has consequences

A formal valuation is worth commissioning when a travel agency's number will be tested by someone else: a sale or purchase, where overrides, contracts and consent are tested; a partner or shareholder buyout; a restructure or related-party transfer; a CGT event, including a claim for the small business CGT concessions; or an estate.

Oliver Group prepares independent valuations only. We are not a tax agent and do not give tax, legal or financial advice: your accountant and lawyer apply the valuation in their own fields. Reports follow the guidelines of APES 225 Valuation Services, and a report is not written to a predetermined number.

Oliver Group's fees are set by the annual turnover of the business: a Small Business Valuation is $1,495 + GST for turnover under $2 million, a Medium Business Valuation is $2,495 + GST for turnover between $2 million and $3 million, a Large Business Valuation is $3,495 + GST for turnover between $3 million and $10 million, and above $10 million the fee is quoted in writing before work starts. A small-business report is delivered in 2 business days and a medium- or large-business report in 3 business days; above $10 million the delivery date is agreed before commencement. Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received. The fee is fixed in writing before work begins and never depends on the concluded value.