Specialist tour operator Voyages Ilena has been acquired by Serenity Holidays for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition coincides with the founder of Voyages Ilena, Julienne Young taking semi-retirement from the travel industry. She maintains involvement with a Provence programme under another trade name.

The Voyages Ilena brand will be maintained, as Serenity Holidays produces new brochures for 2008, as well as relaunches the operator's website, which includes a bookable facility.

Voyages Ilena 2008 brochures are due to be issued in January and will be available to the trade.

The acquisition is part of Serenity Holidays on-going business strategy of developing a collection of strong specialist holiday brands and further strengthening the company's holiday offering, a statement said.

Voyages Ilena began 20 years ago featuring Corsica, and has since evolved to additionally offer self-catering and hotel-based holidays to discerning customers in both Sardinia and Sicily.

"The acquisition seemed a logical expansion for Serenity Holidays, which already owns Corsican Places, which has similarly operated to the destination of Corsica for the last 20 years," the statement said.

Serenity Holidays director Chris Ayling said: "We are delighted to have acquired a company with an attractive property portfolio and a strong reputation for offering quality holidays.

"Voyages Ilena is a desired addition to our existing range of companies and we continue to consider future acquisitions that we believe can add value."

by Phil Davies