With the management buy-out of Fox, nothing will change for the travel agent for the time being. That’s according to Gert-Jan Bressers, who, together with financial director Richard Broekhoven, took over Fox from ANWB through a management buy-out. “Just like before the management buy-out, agents will be able to book both brands, ANWB and Fox, after the privatization,” says Bressers to TravMagazine. “After all, there is a demand for our products from the travel agent, with which we meet a distinctive need of the customer. However, we do see a clear shift from ANWB products to Fox in sales at the travel agent. The name is still very strong and with the expansion of the product range and the flexibility that we are going to add, we offer even more opportunities for the travel agent with Fox. The idea is that in the future Fox will be the brand that is also sold through the travel agent and ANWB only has a travel offer that is exclusively offered to its members through its own channels.’
Logical step The acquisition of Fox by Bressers and Broekhoven, with support from 819 Capital Partners, seems like a logical step after ANWB Reizen reintroduced the Fox brand as an independent label in November 2023. With that, Fox was back. The travel brand Fox, which originated in 1996, was bought by the ANWB. In 2021, Fox was merged with ANWB’s other travel brands (including Pharos) to form ANWB Reizen, as part of the one-brand strategy. At the end of 2023, Fox was relaunched as a self-contained label. With great success. It turned out that the regular Fox customers had not forgotten about the label. On the contrary, there was good booking. In addition to long-distance (round) journeys, European destinations were also launched. What is the reason for the MBO? Bressers: ‘After a strategic reorientation last year, ANWB has shifted its focus in the travel sector to offering a wide range of trips, but no longer on developing them. That was the reason for us to discuss this with ANWB. We have a great team of experts who know better than anyone what offer and service we can serve the customer with. And we do that through the ANWB and Fox brands.” ‘We saw that the Fox brand was being missed in the market. With ANWB’s previous strategy to carry all brands under the ANWB brand name, we did not succeed sufficiently in remaining truly appealing to a number of target groups that were important to Fox and Pharos at the time. We do reach these target groups with the renewed Fox. We are already seeing the positive results of this after the first half of the year.’ Bressers continues: ‘But as Fox, we also remain the exclusive partner of ANWB to compile, develop and implement the Member Travel Offer. Beautiful trips and holidays with an appealing benefit for its members. ANWB has already proven to be very successful in recent years.’ At the MBO, you work together with an investor. Bressers: ‘To make Fox a major travel brand on the Dutch market again, we are working together with 819 Capital Partners. They offer us the opportunity to use their expertise to realise our plans in the coming years. And we are very happy with that. But let’s not forget the whole team, because at the end of the day, we’re all in this together. We are very much looking forward to embarking on this journey with them.’ When will Fox start up again on its own? ‘From now on, we will start as an independent travel organisation, but in the coming months we will still have a transition phase in which we will prepare the privatisation in all areas, such as systems and design. In addition, as the executive travel organisation of ANWB, we will of course remain very closely involved and work together with ANWB.’ Why did the ANWB want to sell Fox to you? After all, it is a thriving business. ‘As indicated, ANWB carried out a strategic reorientation last year. In doing so, they have shifted the focus in the travel sector from compiling and developing the travel offer themselves to only offering a beautiful and wide travel pallet in order to best serve the members of ANWB. Because Richard Broekhoven (financial director, ed.) and I know the company and the employees well, this also gives ANWB confidence for the continuity of the travel company. We know what it takes to put the Fox brand back on the market with our entire team of specialists. And don’t forget that with Fox as our exclusive partner, we will also continue to develop and implement the ANWB Member Travel Offer for ANWB. Here, too, the construction of a management buy-out gives ANWB confidence.’ 
Photo: Gert-Jan Bressers with Anja van Overbeeke, responsible for sales & marketing (Archive photo TravMagazine).
What are your plans? “Last year, we didn’t bring back the Fox brand exactly as it was previously in the market. But I really chose to give Fox a new fresh look and to establish him as an expert in tours. After all, we are a few years down the road, the market has changed and so have our customers somewhat. That is why we have also made Europe and the road tour product part of our travel offer. In addition, we want to keep innovating, which is what Fox was known for at the time. We want to surprise, with an appealing offer, unique experiences, a high level of comfort and service and we want to connect people. We truly believe that the experiences and contacts you gain during a trip make all the difference. So we really enrich our trips with fun and memorable experiences that we think our travelers should really have experienced. It’s not for nothing that we say: Fox goes further.’ How are you going to expand the number of destinations? More Europe? “We’re really positioning Fox as an Expert in Tours. Destinations within Europe also lend themselves very well to this and Europe can really surprise you. So we are certainly expanding there, but we also see many opportunities outside Europe to make our range more complete for both the individual traveler and the group tourer. We started this year with a fairly limited supply, are looking closely at the demand in the market and are expanding our range accordingly. For example, we have recently added a number of very nice winter trips to our travel offer where the winter experience is really central. From Finnish Lapland and Spitsbergen to Iceland and Northern Norway. And for the summer of 2025, we are already working hard to further expand our range.’ What profile do you want to give Fox? “As indicated, we position Fox as an Expert in tours, both within Europe and far beyond, for individual travelers and in groups. We go for quality in product and service with the possibility to deviate as well. As a result, we will certainly not be the cheapest, but we will always strive for a competitive price-quality ratio. And the sale will not only take place immediately, but we are also explicitly looking for cooperation with our retail partners in both the Netherlands and Belgium.’ How will Fox differentiate itself? ‘We don’t say for nothing; Fox continues. So we want to keep innovating, surprising and connecting. With an appealing offer, unique experiences, a high level of comfort and service. We truly believe that the experiences and contacts you gain during a trip make all the difference. So we really enrich our trips with fun and memorable experiences that we think our travelers should really have experienced.” Where do you want to be in three years? ‘In three years’ time, Fox will once again be the Expert in Tours with a complete and surprising travel offer and innovative character. A team of travel experts who proudly share their passion with our travelers to help them experience what travel really is. And then we are convinced that our travellers will come back to us again and again for a great travel experience.’ Photo: Gert-Jan Bressers.
