And continues to seek global expansion
Global travel management consortium Uniglobe avoided the travel industry downturn in 2009, claiming the last 12 months was a period of growth.
And the organisation's chairman, Gary Charlwood, said he was optimistic about recovery and market growth over the next 12 months.
Speaking at a meeting of the world's top performing Uniglobe member agencies, he said: "Despite dire news stories that dominated much of the travel industry in 2009, there were economies that weathered the global recession and offered new market opportunities."
Charlwood, who was recently inducted into the American Society of Travel Agents' hall of fame, credited the Uniglobe's success to three key areas: focus on the SME section of the business travel market, growth in emerging economies including India, the Middle East and Asia, and the success of Uniglobe's Global Partner programme.
Derek Hearl-Maunder, Uniglobe's UK boss, said: "The majority of our agents are making more money than they did 12 months ago, despite suffering a downturn in sales.
"Although the UK is proving slower than other countries to come out of recession, our focus on improving deals and systems has enabled our agents to maintain and improve margins."
One of Uniglobe's top performing agents, Barry Baty of Top Flight Travel, said the UK travel industry was going through a period of rapid change.
" There has been an accelerated shift to online programmes for online booking while management reports and expense management has allowed many companies to take their businesses onto the global stage, saving costs," he said.
Uniglobe signed up 18 new global partners across Europe in the last year and Charlwood insisted he was still on the acquisition trail.
"Although there are increasing signs of recovery, we cannot know what the world economy is going to do, or if there will be a market correction. But if history repeats itself, we can look forward to a period of prolonged recover and prosperity. In the meantime, we are putting our money where our mouth is."