Gay holiday companies merge to form largest in Europe

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a white background.

Respect Holidays and Sensations Holidays, the UK’s largest tour operators specialising in gay and lesbian travel, have merged.

Now Europe’s largest specialist tour operator, Respect will continue to trade as Respect Holidays, and Sensations will trade as Sensations Holidays.

The parent company that both holiday brands will trade under, Lidana Limited, is the current umbrella company of Respect Holidays.

Lidana Ltd will take over full operational responsibility for the management of both brands across the world from their offices in Camden, North London.

Both companies will continue to service Mykonos, Gran Canaria, Ibiza and Sitges, with Respect also offering accommodation only and package holidays to Tenerife and Canadian destinations Vancouver, Whistler, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec and Nova Scotia.

Existing and new customers for the newly-merged company can continue to book their Respect or Sensations holidays online at their existing websites.

Announcing the merger, Paul Kilcoyne, Managing Director of Respect Holidays said:

“With more customers purchasing holidays over the internet, Respect and Sensations have both seen an explosion of sales coming from as far away as North America, Australia and Russia.

“By working together, Respect and Sensations can take advantage of these global opportunities and develop a world-leading travel company that continually develops new products and services to meet the changing needs of its customers.”