JOE Walsh Tours (JWT) is to pay more than £500,000 to acquire the pilgrimage division of Cara, Holidays. Cara is one of the best known names in the specialist pilgrimage market. It carried 5,500 passengers to Lourdes in 1995. The Cara retail travel agency in Dublin's D'Olier Street is unaffected by the deal.

Mr David Walsh, of JWT, said the Cara acquisition was one of a planned series of moves to reinforce the company's position as the undisputed market leader in the religious tours market. Mr Walsh estimates the pilgrimage market in Ireland to be worth £20 million annually. The main destinations are Lourdes, Rome, Fatima and the Holy Land.

JWT recently sold its sun holiday division to First Choice for £5.3 million. The Cara acquisition clears the way for the signing of a £1.4 million airline contract to guarantee day time flights to Lourdes on wide bodied aircraft throughout the pilgrimage season.

No staff positions are affected, according to JWT.