Associated Travel International Acquires Company Based in Dallas

Associated Travel International has acquired Dallas-based Sunbelt Travel for an undisclosed sum, the companies said Tuesday.

The combination created a $420-million travel management firm with 350 employees in 253 offices clustered around strongholds in California and Texas. The two travel agencies will report $420 million in airline, hotel and rental car bookings during 1996, and the combined companies will become one of the nation’s 15 largest corporate travel management firms.

While the deal will lead to some layoffs in Texas, Associated Travel doesn’t expect to reduce its work force in Santa Ana or at storefront offices around the country, according to company spokesman Alex Miroshnichenko. “We will have some cuts in payroll, accounting, those back-shop types of things, but all of our current positions here in Santa Ana should remain,” he said.

Before acquiring Sunbelt, Associated Travel had about 300 employees at 209 offices around the country. Miroshnichenko said the deal was designed to “give us an immediate statewide presence in Texas. Our industry is in the midst of a consolidation, just like the banking industry.”

About 90% of Associated Travel’s bookings come from corporate travel accounts, Miroshnichenko said, with the remainder being driven by leisure travel.