INVIA expands Hungarian network to 37 branches with Győr franchise opening

INVIA opened a new travel agency branch in the Árkád shopping centre in Győr, Hungary, on 5 November 2026, bringing its Hungarian network to 37 branches. According to a report published by Számoldki.hu on 10 November, this made it the country’s largest travel agency chain by branch count. The new location is run by local franchise partners who already operate another INVIA branch in Győr.

A second Győr location with existing partners

The branch on the upper floor of Árkád is operated by Anikó Imre and Péter Halász, the owners of Check-In Travel. They also run the INVIA branch on Kisfaludy Street in the city centre, so the opening represents an expansion of their existing franchise partnership rather than their first venture with the network.

The new branch covers 80 square metres and employs four travel advisers. It is open seven days a week. INVIA’s presence in Győr now includes both a city-centre branch and a shopping-centre location, operated by the same two local owners.

For Hungary’s franchise community, the opening is primarily a concrete example of network expansion through an existing partner. In this case, growth in the national branch count and the launch of another outlet for a local business stem from the same investment. Both Győr branches have the same operators and form part of the INVIA network.

At 80 square metres, the new branch is twice the brand’s stated ideal minimum size of 40 square metres. This provides a useful benchmark for the premises, but says nothing in itself about the return on investment: floor area and financial performance are separate matters.

Product range and head-office support drove the decision

According to the Győr owners, customer needs, brand recognition and the support available to run the business informed their choice between a franchise and an independent agency. INVIA’s broad range of travel products, marketing support and continually developed technology weighed in its favour.

The partners say that membership of the network gives them access to the full ranges of dozens of Hungarian and international tour operators through a single system. They regard this as essential to their role as travel agents, as they want to offer customers the widest possible choice.

The owners felt that an established brand and head-office support provided a foundation that would be harder and more time-consuming to build as an independent agency. This reflects the partners’ own assessment and reasons for their decision; it is not a general promise of profitability for businesses joining the franchise.

The Győr example is noteworthy because the reasons behind the choice go beyond the right to use a brand name. The owners highlighted access to travel offers, IT infrastructure and marketing designed to attract customers as a combined package. They saw these services as important advantages over operating independently.

Training and support behind the opening

INVIA’s franchise partners receive ongoing training, operational know-how, back-office administrative assistance, marketing and product support, and dedicated franchise support from head office. The model therefore provides central services for day-to-day operations as well as for the initial opening.

Under the terms described, it generally takes around a month from signing the contract to opening a branch. The timing depends mainly on the location, so this should not be treated as a fixed opening deadline that applies to every new outlet. When preparing a specific business launch, the schedule needs to reflect the requirements of the chosen premises.

The stated ideal minimum branch size of 40 square metres and the Győr outlet’s 80 square metres are also two distinct figures. The former is the network’s size guideline; the latter is the actual floor area of an operating location. Similarly, the Győr branch’s four advisers and seven-day opening schedule describe that particular outlet, rather than standard requirements for every franchise branch.

Entrepreneurs considering joining should therefore assess head-office support separately from the operational requirements of their own location. Even with an apparently quick opening process, staffing, premises and opening hours each require their own planning.

A Hungarian milestone with a regional presence

The report described the 37-branch Hungarian network reached with the Győr opening as the national market leader by branch count. That claim relates to the number of outlets, not revenue, passenger numbers or the total value of holidays sold. This distinction matters when assessing the scale of the network.

The regional footprint is larger: INVIA, together with the Travelplanet.pl and Wakacje.pl brands, operates more than 700 branches across the region. This is a combined regional figure, not the number of INVIA branches in Hungary. The specific result of the latest Hungarian expansion is the opening in Győr and a national network of 37 branches.

Practical takeaway: the existing franchise relationship, centrally available product range and operational support all played a part in the Győr opening. Entrepreneurs planning a similar expansion should look beyond the brand name and examine both the actual support package and a detailed cost plan for their proposed location.