Travel club Mr & Mrs Smith Hotels would consider a stockmarket listing in the future.

The disclosure was made by chief creative officer James Lohan, who founded the company in 2003 with his wife Tamara.

His comments followed Airbnb’s multi-billion dollar Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the US stock market last week.

When asked on the FlightDeck programme on Travel.Radio if Mr & Mrs Smith would follow a similar direction, Lohan said: “We would consider a stock market route. It’s definitely something we’ve discussed.

“We’re not big enough yet to do that and it comes with its own challenges and risks but IPO’ing does feel like something the business would consider. It makes a lot of sense.”

He also criticised  the approach taken by the government towards the travel sector during the Covid-19 crisis.

“The government doesn’t understand the sector,” Lohan said. “It hasn’t helped it. They’ve gone into some of the decision-making completely uninformed and haven’t sought the correct counsel. It was just very blunt the way they attacked things. They could have been more thoughtful.

“They were ripping the heart and soul out of the industry. It wasn’t their finest moment.”

However, Lohan predicted a stronger 2021 in the sector, describing the pent-up demand as “extraordinary”.

He added: “We will be promoting the fact that people will be staying longer but taking fewer trips; and shining a light on sustainability as an issue going forward.”