tui travel agency wiki

Company-Histories.com

learn how over 7,000 companies got started!

• Listed By State

Companies by Letter

Tui group gmbh.

TUI Group GmbH, based in Germany, is Europe's largest tourism conglomerate. TUI Group unites over 3,600 travel agencies under one umbrella. Mainly located in Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Belgium, 39 tour operators belong to TUI Group, including the major brands TUI Schöne Ferien!, 1-2-FLY, Arke Reizen, Holland International and JMC, as well as many smaller tour operators specializing in narrower target markets. TUI customers often travel with one of TUI Group's airlines, including German Hapag-Lloyd and British JMC, which own over 60 aircraft with about 14,000 passenger seats. Besides its own 18 incoming agencies, TUI Group offers tour guide services in 69 countries. The company controls over 185 hotels in 19 countries, including the RIU, Grecotel, Iberotel, Grupotel, Dorfhotel, ROBINSON, and the Swiss Inn chains. Most of TUI Group's hotels are located in Spain and other Mediterranean countries. With a major focus on holiday travel, TUI Group is also active in the business travel market. On January 1st, 2000 TUI Group became the tourism division of restructured Preussag AG.

Four German Travel Enterprises Form TUI in 1968

On December 1, 1968, four German tour operators signed the shareholder agreement for a new enterprise in Hannover, Germany: Touristik Union International, in short TUI. The companies that formed TUI included Touropa, Scharnow-Reisen, Hummel-Reisen, and Dr. Tigges-Fahrten. The latter was a company with roots reaching back before World War II, founded in 1928 by husband and wife Hubert and Maria Tigges in Wuppertal. Traveling had been a hobby for city college staff teacher Dr. Hubert Tigges. Finally, in 1928, he decided to take a chance and make it a full-time occupation. Tigges invited his brother-in-law Alois Fischer to join the enterprise. At a time of economic depression, holiday trips were out of reach for many and they had to be cheap for people who could afford to go on vacation. Tigges provided buses that were equipped with a mobile kitchen and that carried tents and collapsible boats to holiday destinations.

Because of Germany's cool climate, German travelers early on developed a preference for warm and sunny holiday destinations. Looking for new places, Tigges was the first German tour operator to "discover" the Balearic Island Mallorca, which belonged to Spain, for organized vacations. The island later became Germany's number one holiday destination. However, when Tigges visited the island with a group of Germans in 1934, it was still mostly untouched by tourism. Tigges and Fischer found a domestic collaborator, hotel owner Luis Rui, and the three men soon became close friends. In the 1950s they developed the idea of offering long-term stays in Mallorca's mild climate during the winter months. The idea was an instant success and opened the door in the early 1960s for year-round international tourism on the Balearic Islands. In the mid-1950s, Tigges also started cooperating with the small Spanish travel agency Utramar-Express on Mallorca which had unprecedented service standards in regards to reliability and high organizational flexibility.

Deeply influenced by the misery of the two World Wars, Tigges and Fischer developed a new vision for a tour operator that was rather unusual at the time. Based on the belief that the experience of foreign countries and cultures and meeting people there could foster mutual understanding, Dr. Tigges-Fahrten started offering study-trips that went beyond the typical sightseeing. This too became a huge success. Supported by the high number of loyal customers, study trips became Dr. Tigges's new hallmark.

The other three tour operators that formed TUI in 1968 were founded in the early 1950s of post-war Germany. With the country still in ruins but with signs of an economic upturn on the horizon, the Germans' desire to go somewhere else for their holidays was awakening. In 1948, the Munich-based travel joint venture DER-Gesellschaftsreisen was founded and three years later transformed to Touropa. In 1957, when people traveled between continents on scheduled ferry lines--a rather boring and time-consuming undertaking--Touropa's CEO Dr. Carl Degener came up with the idea to charter a ship exclusively for cruises--just for fun. Moreover, the cruises ran on a weekly schedule, taking the same route: from Venice to Dubrovnik to Corfu to Delphi and, via Rhodes, back to Piraeus and Athens. The advantage for travelers was that they could interrupt their trip at any harbor, maybe take a trip on land or just stay at a certain place for a week at the beach, and then continue their trip on the next cruise ship.

In 1953, the year when Dr. Tigges offered flights to Mallorca for the first time, two travel operators were founded in Hannover: One was Hummel Reisen which originated from a side business of publisher Axel Springer Verlag in Hamburg and Jochen Stickrodt's Hannover-based travel agency Stickrodt, the other Scharnow-Reisen founded by Willy Scharnow. Three years later the two companies formed a joint venture to be able to carry the higher cost and financial risks of the upcoming air travel. In 1957, Scharnow and Hummel joined forces with Touropa and offered Germany's first air travel catalogue under the label Deutsche Flugtouristik. When Germany's economy picked up speed rapidly in the second half of the 1960s, a strong demand for a broad variety of affordable travel packages developed. Degener and Scharnow recognized that only a larger company with sufficient financial and organizational resources would be able to offer just that on a large scale. In 1966, Touropa and Scharnow-Reisen swapped parts of their shares. One year later, Hummel Reisen joined the group, and Dr. Tigges Reisen followed soon after. In 1968, the year of TUI's founding, the first sales office opened in Berlin. Touropa Austria was established in the same year. By 1969, the number of TUI customers exceeded one million.

New Partners and New Services Spur Growth in the 1970s and 1980s

In 1970, another company joined TUI: airtours international, Germany's biggest tour operator that offered customized air travel with scheduled carriers for educated upscale holiday vacationers to first class and deluxe hotels around the world. Founded in 1967, airtours served about 140,000 customers in 1970. To be able to deliver adequate service to its well-to-do clientele, the company invested in the travel agencies that carried their catalogue by sending a thousand travel agents a year on "educational trips." In 1971, another big player in the tourism market, TransEuropa-Reisen, was founded as a joint venture between German department store giant Karstadt and the country's largest mail order company Quelle. A year later TransEuropa became part of TUI--for a share in the dynamically growing group. In 1974, TUI's sales reached DM one billion for the first time. In the same year the tour operators that constituted TUI, including Scharnow, Hummel, Dr. Tigges, Touropa and TransEuropa, were transformed into TUI subsidiaries. In 1976, Karstadt gave up its TUI shareholdings so that their planned acquisition of another leading German tour operator, NUR Touristik with its flagship brand Neckermann Reisen, would be approved by the cartel authorities. Department store company Horten AG took over Karstadt's TUI shares in 1977. Beginning in 1979, the headquarters of all TUI subsidiaries were moved to Hannover. Three years later all of the company's divisions, with about 1,000 employees altogether, moved into a brand-new office building on Karl-Wiechert-Allee.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, TUI invested in a number of travel agencies and hotels. The company acquired shares in tour ship operator seetours international: the travel agencies Dr. Degener Reisen in Salzburg; Pollmann's Tours and Safaris Ltd. in Kenya, Africa; and Ultramar Express S.A. in Spain. On the hotel side, Spanish hotel chains Iberotel and RIU became part of the TUI group in the 1970s. TUI also founded their own hotel ventures. In 1971, the company created Robinson Hotel GmbH & Co. KG together with Steigenberger Hotelgesellschaft, a chain of "club hotels." The first Robinson Club was established in the same year on Fuerteventura Island, Spain. In 1981, TUI established the new hotel chain Grecotel with partners in Greece.

In the first two decades after its founding, TUI put a high emphasis on creating a broad portfolio of high-quality services. In 1970, the company created its travel service division TUI Service. Instead of relying on outside vendors, TUI Service staff welcomed their guests at their holiday destinations, gave them tips on how to make the most out of their vacation, helped organize special trips, and took care of problems with other service providers such as hotels. The variety of services offered by the tour operators that comprised TUI were also greatly expanded. The broad spectrum of packaged and individual trips by air, train, car or ship were complemented by new holiday formats ranging from club holidays and stays at country farms to special trips to nude beaches for sunbathers, tennis and sport centers for fitness freaks, and the special youth travel program "twen-tours." In 1971, TUI together with German airline Lufthansa and the government-owned rail company Bundesbahn founded Studiengesellschaft zur Automatisierung für Reise und Touristik, in short START, a joint venture to develop an electronic booking system--a revolutionary idea for the time. By 1979, START GmbH, in which all three shareholders had equal shares, had a working system. In the same year the first TUI trip was booked through a computer, setting off a new age in Europe's travel industry. By 1993, about 90 percent of TUI's bookings, representing approximately 22 million trips, were booked electronically through the START booking system.

In 1981, TUI took over the marketing for cruise ship MS Astor , which a year later became the setting for Traumschiff , a popular German TV soap. Cuba became a new TUI holiday destination. In the late 1980s, TUI intensified its activities again when the travel market became more competitive. TUI invested in Dutch tour operator ARKE and Bremen-based Wolters-Reisen and founded tour operator take off . Turkey and the Dominican Republic became two major destinations for the company. In 1988, TUI rehashed its corporate design and launched its first national advertising campaign. In cooperation with Bundesbahn TUI introduced the Autoreisezug , a train that carried the tourists' own cars to their holiday destination. To raise customer loyalty, TUI issued a card that earned return customers various benefits including discounts and special offers. In 1989, the company launched its own franchise system TUI UrlaubCenter.

Restructuring in 1990 and 1997

By 1990, TUI had grown significantly. In fact, the company had become Europe's largest tour operator. Losses resulting from the Gulf War and violent conflict in Yugoslavia were balanced out by gains from the about 16 million new customers from the reunited eastern part of Germany. Serving more than 3 million guests in business year 1990-91, the company had generated over DM 5 billion in sales. In order to stay on top of things, TUI enacted its first restructuring program. All tour operators were integrated into the TUI holding company, all of which carried the TUI brand in their names, and separate profit centers were established. The offers of the different tour operators were organized and marketed by country under the TUI brand. In 1991, a new three-step distribution concept was introduced: TUI Reisebüro served customers directly through; TUI UrlaubCenter marketed TUI products through their franchise partners; and TUI Profi-Partner served independent travel agencies. The company's next goal was vertical expansion into the hotel and incoming agency business on an international level. Between 1990 and 1993, TUI acquired shares in incoming agencies--travel agencies that served tourists at their holiday destination--in Morocco, Portugal, and Tanzania, Africa. In 1993, TUI together with hotel chain RUI founded a hotel operating company for Spain. In 1995 and 1996, TUI expanded into the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, and Switzerland, where it founded new subsidiaries.

In 1997, TUI again restructured its organization to make its management more efficient. The company was divided into five business divisions. The first one included tour operators in Central Europe; the second one united tour operators in Western Europe; the third one managed the incoming agencies and guest services and purchasing of hotel capacities at the travel destinations. The new IT division offered central services such as accounting, personnel management, and legal services to all other TUI divisions. The fifth division bundled TUI's own hotel subsidiaries and shareholdings, which numbered more than 120 and which were a main focus of the company's growth strategy. The latter were streamlined in the following years. The Spanish hotel chain Iberotel which had been in financial trouble in 1990 was integrated into the RIU group, which in the meantime had grown to Spain's second largest hotel chain. In Switzerland TUI founded a joint venture together with Swiss tourism groups Imholz and the Charles-Voegele Group. Imholz TUI Voegele (ITV) became Switzerland's second biggest travel company.

The Consolidating Travel Market of the 1990s

In the 1990s, processes of concentration in the German travel industry intensified. Dropping prices drove many smaller, specialized, and even mid-sized companies to the edge of bankruptcy or out of business completely, while the big players were arm wrestling and trying to stay ahead of the crowd. In 1993, the company's 25th anniversary year, a battle for influence over TUI erupted. TUI's shareholders included travel agencies Deutsches Reisebüro GmbH (DER) and Amtliches Bayerisches Reisebüro GmbH (abr), which by then were both owned by Deutsche Bundesbahn; Hapag Lloyd Reisebüro GmbH, owned by airline and logistics company Hapag Lloyd; a holding company that held the shares of mail order firm Quelle and department store chain Horten AG; publisher Axel Springer Verlag; and Walter Kahn Verwaltungs-GmbH & Co. Beteiligungs-KG, a holding company that bundled the interests of 16 smaller TUI shareholders, mainly travel agencies. The Kahn group owned about 30 percent of TUI, Quelle--which was owned by the Schickedanz group--and Horten owned 25 percent, Bundesbahn held a little over 23 percent, Hapag Lloyd owned over 11 percent, and the Springer group another ten percent. When the Kahn shareholders offered to sell their share in 1992, they received a very lucrative offer from Westdeutsche Landesbank, WestLB for short, a large bank that had started to form a tourism concern of considerable size--on behalf of someone else, according to many speculators. Through its own Horten and Hapag Lloyd shareholdings, the bank was connected indirectly with TUI. WestLB also owned part of the LTU group, another big player in Germany's travel market including a holiday charter airline and some major tour operators. The airline, however, had invested too heavily in its fleet of aircraft. Consequently, it had a hard time filling its seats and was craving business.

However, the other TUI shareholders were not so happy with WestLB's plans--they had plans of their own. Schickendanz was planning to make the travel business a second strong business division and to cash in on synergy effects by selling trips through its mail order catalogues. Hapag Lloyd's airline had a major chunk of TUI's flight business and wasn't interested in sharing it with LTU. Bundesbahn hadn't developed any particular concept of its own, but was not interested in letting any more investors in. Besides TUI's old shareholders, two other groups showed a lively interest in more influence over the company: Deutsche Lufthansa and the wholesale and retail giant Metro Group. Lufthansa's subsidiary, charter airline Condor, had the second biggest part of TUI's flights and the airline was seeking to secure this business by gaining more influence. The company was planning to raise its 15.5 percent shareholding in Hapag Lloyd by the ten percent share that TUI held. Metro subsidiary Kaufhof, another department store chain, owned shares in two of the country's biggest tour operators, NUR-Touristik and International Tourist Länderreisedienste (ITS), and a minority share in Hapag Lloyd. Kaufhof was also expressing interest in TUI.

When it became clear that WestLB wouldn't have an easy time of it, the bank tried to get in through the back door. In October 1992, a consortium lead by WestLB bought a majority share in Kahn KG. Four months later, Springer Verlag announced it would sell their TUI share to Kahn KG. In the meantime, Horten asked for its voting rights back from Schickedanz to which they had been transferred due to a ruling by the German cartel authorities. With Kahn KG's 40.2 percent and--theoretically--Horten's 12.5 percent, WestLB would have dominated TUI. The other TUI shareholders in turn wanted to exclude Kahn KG from the circle of TUI owners since it had not offered its shares for sale to them first, as required by the company's bylaws. Kahn KG countered by blocking the sale of TUI's ten-percent share in Hapag Lloyd AG to German airline Lufthansa, a deal which the other TUI shareholders had agreed on without Kahn KG. Finally, in October 1993, the dirtiest battle over the power over Germany's largest travel group was completed when the parties involved agreed to a new distribution of the company's shares, while TUI's top management struggled to stay competitive by cutting cost. According to the agreement, WestLB-owned LTU group and Hapag Lloyd held 30 percent each, while Schickedanz-owned Quelle and Deutsche Bundesbahn owned 20 percent each. Horten AG and Kahn KG were no longer TUI shareholders. The nasty battle had a positive side effect for TUI--its brand name recognition jumped suddenly as a result.

In 1997, Karstadt--which meanwhile was partly owned by the Schickedanz group--started talking with Lufthansa about a liaison between the department store's tourism arm NUR Touristic, Germany's number two tour operator, and the airline's charter subsidiary Condor. Lufthansa's Condor had gradually lost more and more of TUI's flight business to LTU and other providers and the two companies were trying to form a new big tour operator that would be able to compete with market leader TUI. It was in that year when German industrial conglomerate Preussag AG, one-third of which was owned by WestLB, announced that it would take over TUI shareholder Hapag Lloyd. In the same year, WestLB transferred the voting rights for its 30 percent share in TUI to Preussag which Preussag passed on to Hapag Lloyd. With the other 30 percent owned by Hapag Lloyd, Preussag had a controlling interest in TUI and announced that tourism would become its number one business. The deal went through after WestLB signed an agreement with the German cartel authorities to sell its interest in LTU. In early 1998, the Schickedanz group, which had formed C&N Condor Neckermann Touristik AG with Lufthansa, sold its TUI share to Hapag Lloyd. The remaining TUI shareholder Deutsche Bahn, however, did not sell its shares as many insiders had expected. The company took advantage of its stock option and acquired an additional 12.5 percent. After the deal, Hapag Lloyd held a 75 percent majority share while Deutsche Bahn owned 25 percent. In 1999, Preussag acquired Deutsche Bahn's TUI share. One year later, the TUI shareholdings were taken out of the temporary Hapag Lloyd holding company and Preussag formed a new holding, TUI Group GmbH, while TUI became Preussag's new tourism brand.

Principal Subsidiaries: TUI Deutschland GmbH; TUI Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH; Hapag-Lloyd Fluggesellschaft mbH; TUI Leisure Travel GmbH; TUI interactive GmbH; TUI 4 U GmbH; TUI Austria GmbH; TUI Suisse Ltd; TUI Polska Sp.z.o.o.; Travel Unie International Nederland N.V. (Netherlands; 91%); Hapag-Lloyd Fluggesellschaft mbH; TUI Hellas AE (Greece); TUI Service AG (Switzerland; 85%); TUI International AG (Switzerland; 85%); L'TUR Tourismus AG (51%); airtours international GmbH; TUI Business Travel GmbH.

Principal Competitors: LTU Group Holding GmbH; Thomas Cook AG; REWE Tourism Group; alltours flugreisen GmbH.

Source: International Directory of Company Histories , Vol. 44. St. James Press, 2002.

Quick search

Company histories.

As consumers, we often take for granted all the hard work that goes into building a great company. We see them around but we don't know what goes on behind the scenes. Finally, we can read about how these great companies came about with Company Histories. .

Share This Story

Companies by State

• Connecticut
• Massachusetts
• Mississippi
• New Hampshire
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• West Virginia

Interesting Companies

• Next Media LTD
• Cygne Designs, Inc
• Prada Holdings B.V.
• Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation
• Cannondale Corporation
• New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc.
• Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc
• Nordstrom, Inc
• Banta Corporation

Copyright (c) 2022 Company-Histories.com. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy

• Travel, Tourism & Hospitality ›
• Leisure Travel

TUI AG - statistics and facts

Has tui recovered from the impact of covid-19, package holidays market: what are tui’s main competitors, key insights.

Detailed statistics

Revenue of TUI AG worldwide 2004-2023

TUI AG net income worldwide 2015-2023

Number of TUI AG employees worldwide 2011-2023, by region

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Current statistics on this topic.

Tour Operators & Travel Agencies

Leading travel agents ranked by number of outlets in the UK 2024

Leading ATOL-licensed tour operators in the UK 2024, by passengers licensed

Related topics

Travel agency market.

• Travel agency industry
• Travel agencies in the United Kingdom (UK)
• Package holidays in the United Kingdom (UK)

Travel companies

• Booking Holdings Inc.
• Expedia Group, Inc.
• Tripadvisor

Recommended statistics

Industry overview.

• Premium Statistic Market size of the travel agency services industry worldwide 2011-2024
• Premium Statistic Number of businesses in the travel agency services industry worldwide 2013-2024
• Premium Statistic Key information on the travel agency industry in the EU 2023
• Premium Statistic Leading travel agents ranked by number of outlets in the UK 2024
• Premium Statistic Leading ATOL-licensed tour operators in the UK 2024, by passengers licensed
• Premium Statistic Leading holiday travel provider websites in the UK Q4 2023, by share of voice

Market size of the travel agency services industry worldwide 2011-2024

Market size of the travel agency services industry worldwide from 2011 to 2023, with a forecast for 2024 (in million U.S. dollars)

Number of businesses in the travel agency services industry worldwide 2013-2024

Number of businesses in the travel agency services industry worldwide from 2014 to 2023, with a forecast for 2024

Key information on the travel agency industry in the EU 2023

Key data on the travel agency industry in the European Union (EU) as of November 2023

Leading travel agencies in the United Kingdom (UK) as of February 2024, by number of travel shops

Leading ATOL-licensed tour operators in the United Kingdom as of February 2024, ranked by number of passengers licensed

Leading holiday travel provider websites in the UK Q4 2023, by share of voice

Leading websites for holiday searches in the United Kingdom in 4th quarter of 2023, by share of voice

Company information

• Premium Statistic Revenue of TUI AG worldwide 2004-2023
• Premium Statistic TUI AG revenue 2019-2023, by segment
• Premium Statistic Annual percentage change in revenue of TUI AG 2020-2023, by segment
• Premium Statistic TUI AG cost of sales worldwide 2015-2023
• Basic Statistic Cost breakdown of TUI AG employees worldwide 2019-2023, by type
• Premium Statistic TUI AG net income worldwide 2015-2023
• Premium Statistic TUI AG employees 2019-2023, by segment
• Basic Statistic Number of TUI AG employees worldwide 2011-2023, by region
• Premium Statistic Customers of TUI AG worldwide 2017-2023, by market

Revenue of TUI AG worldwide from 2004 to 2023 (in billion euros)

TUI AG revenue 2019-2023, by segment

Revenue of TUI AG worldwide from 2019 to 2023, by segment (in million euros)

Annual percentage change in revenue of TUI AG 2020-2023, by segment

Annual percentage change in revenue of TUI AG worldwide from 2020 to 2023, by segment

TUI AG cost of sales worldwide 2015-2023

Cost of sales of TUI AG worldwide from 2015 to 2023 (in billion euros)

Cost breakdown of TUI AG employees worldwide 2019-2023, by type

Personnel costs at TUI AG worldwide from 2019 to 2023, by cost type (in million euros)

Net income of TUI AG worldwide from 2015 to 2023 (in million euros)

TUI AG employees 2019-2023, by segment

Number of TUI AG employees worldwide from 2019 to 2023, by segment

Number of TUI AG employees worldwide from 2011 to 2023, by region

Customers of TUI AG worldwide 2017-2023, by market

Number of customers of TUI AG worldwide from 2017 to 2023, by market (in 1,000s)

Hotels and resorts

• Premium Statistic Hotels and resorts of TUI in Germany 2022-2023
• Premium Statistic Capacity of TUI AG hotels and resorts 2008-2023, by brand
• Premium Statistic Occupancy rate of TUI AG hotels and resorts 2008-2023, by brand
• Premium Statistic Largest international hotel chains in Spain 2023, by hotel capacity
• Premium Statistic Leading international hotel chain groups in Italy 2022, by number of rooms

Hotels and resorts of TUI in Germany 2022-2023

Number of hotels and resorts of TUI in 2022 and 2023, by hotel brand

Capacity of TUI AG hotels and resorts 2008-2023, by brand

Capacity of TUI AG hotels and resorts from 2008 to 2023, by brand (in millions)

Occupancy rate of TUI AG hotels and resorts 2008-2023, by brand

Occupancy rate of TUI AG hotels and resorts from 2008 to 2023, by brand

Largest international hotel chains in Spain 2023, by hotel capacity

Leading international hotel chains in Spain as of July 2023, by number of rooms

Leading international hotel chain groups in Italy 2022, by number of rooms

Leading international hotel chain groups in Italy in 2022, by number of rooms

• Premium Statistic TUI cruise brand revenue worldwide 2015-2023, by brand
• Premium Statistic TUI cruise passengers worldwide 2013-2023, by brand
• Premium Statistic Occupancy rate of TUI cruises worldwide 2013-2023, by brand
• Basic Statistic Most popular amusement, cruise, and travel brands in the UK Q4 2023

TUI cruise brand revenue worldwide 2015-2023, by brand

Revenue of TUI cruise brands worldwide from 2015 to 2023, by brand (in million euros)

TUI cruise passengers worldwide 2013-2023, by brand

Number of passengers on TUI cruise brands worldwide from 2013 to 2023, by brand (in 1,000s)

Occupancy rate of TUI cruises worldwide 2013-2023, by brand

Occupancy rate of TUI cruise brands worldwide from 2013 to 2023, by brand

Most popular amusement, cruise, and travel brands in the UK Q4 2023

Most popular amusement, cruise, and travel brands in the United Kingdom as of 4th quarter of 2023

Consumer behavior

• Premium Statistic Package holiday bookings by brand in the UK 2023
• Premium Statistic Package holiday bookings by brand in Germany 2023
• Premium Statistic Package holiday bookings by brand in Austria 2023
• Premium Statistic Package holiday bookings by brand in the Netherlands 2023
• Premium Statistic Package holiday bookings by brand in France 2023
• Premium Statistic Package holiday bookings by brand in Switzerland 2023

Package holiday bookings by brand in the UK 2023

Package holiday bookings by brand in the UK as of December 2023

Package holiday bookings by brand in Germany 2023

Package holiday bookings by brand in Germany as of December 2023

Package holiday bookings by brand in Austria 2023

Package holiday bookings by brand in Austria as of December 2023

Package holiday bookings by brand in the Netherlands 2023

Package holiday bookings by brand in the Netherlands as of December 2023

Package holiday bookings by brand in France 2023

Package holiday bookings by brand in France as of December 2023

Package holiday bookings by brand in Switzerland 2023

Package holiday bookings by brand in Switzerland as of December 2023

Further reports Get the best reports to understand your industry

Get the best reports to understand your industry.

Mon - Fri, 9am - 6pm (EST)

Mon - Fri, 9am - 5pm (SGT)

Mon - Fri, 10:00am - 6:00pm (JST)

Mon - Fri, 9:30am - 5pm (GMT)

A brief look back in Time

The History of Thomson Travel Group & Britannia Airways

Thomson travel - faqs.

• How Thomson Holidays was formed
• Thomsons & Britannia grow big in the 1980s
• Preussag AG acquires Thomson
• TUI AG merger with First Choice Holidays PLC

Holiday4.com

In this article, Holiday4 takes a 'step back in time' to discover how Thomson Holidays and Britannia Airways were formed.

Affiliate Disclosure & Article Disclaimer. We may use affiliate links - you can view our affiliate statement and article disclaimer here.

A Brief History of Thomson Holidays & Britannia Airways

The Thomson Travel Group (TTG) was a highly successful UK travel agency, charter airline & package holiday provider and cruise line operator. The company was formed by the Thomson Corporation of Canada back in 1965, after the acquisition of four independent UK tour operators, Gaytours, Luxitours, Riviera and Skytours (conveniently, Skytours came with its own airline Britannia Airways - formerly known as Euravia, founded in 1961).

Britannia Airways played an important role in the success of the newly formed Thomson Travel Group, and in 1970 the business was re-launched as "Thomson Holidays". In the early 1970s, Thomson Holidays were offering two weeks in the sun flying from Manchester (with hotel and board included) for under £50 per person.

Thomson Holidays 1980s

During the 1980s (and with the support of independent British Travel Agents), Thomson Holidays and sister company Skytours became two of the UK's largest and most successful package tour operators. During this period, Britannia was one of the first holiday airlines to sell 'seat only' fares on its package holiday routes - which helped the pioneering airline become one of Europe's largest and most successful charter carriers.

The Thomson Travel Group was floated on the London Stock Exchange in May 1998 with a valuation of 1.7 billion pounds. See this article on early package tour operations .

Thomson Travel Group acuired by Preussag AG

At the turn of the millennium, the Thomson Travel brand dominated the UK travel industry and in 2000, the group was acquired by German-owned Preussag AG, an industrial and transportation conglomerate based in Berlin, with origins dating back over 75 years.

Preussag AG involvement in travel and tourism started in 1997 with the acquisition of one of Germany’s leading tourism companies Hapag-Lloyd. From 1997 onwards, the company acquired several leading European tourism businesses, including Fritidsresor and Nouvelles Frontières - plus involvements in hotel groups RIU and Magic Life.

The start of TUI AG - and its merger with First Choice Holidays PLC

Soon after its merger with Preussag AG in 2002, the Britannia Airways name was dropped and replaced with Thomson Airways (Thomsonfly). With a change of name - came the addition of a new blue and red livery in keeping with other TUI carriers. In 2017 the names Thomson Holidays and Thomson Airways were fully retired, and the company started trading as TUI UK, with Thomson Cruises rebranded as Marella Cruises. With the current rebranding now complete, the name TUI has become one of the world's leading and most recognised international travel brands.

Author: Chris Booth - Date: 24/06/2023. Chris has been involved in the travel industry for over 20 years.

Disclaimer: Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information at the time of writing, please ensure you check carefully before making any decisions based on the contents of this article. The use of this site and third-party links is subject to our T&Cs.

TUI is the market leader in Belgium in the tour operator sector   

TUI Belgium, a tourism company with over 50 years of experience, combines the TUI tour operator and the TUI fly airline activities. The company also has a network of 104 TUI travel agencies in numerous Belgian towns and cities. TUI Belgium employs 2100 people and is part of TUI Group, one of the world's leading tourism groups .

TUI Belgium and TUI Netherlands have joined forces to form TUI BeNe. Both companies are market leaders within organized tourism in their countries. TUI BeNe is part of TUI Western Region, one of the three sub-regions that TUI Group has created .

Download the company presentation below:

Press release

• Press releases
• TUI Stories
• FY24 Q1 Results
• TUI returns to the Prime Standard
• Finance Communication
• Interviews, speeches & presentations

TUI Group: Shares of the international tourism group return to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange

• Inclusion in the MDAX expected for 24 June
• CEO Sebastian Ebel: "As of today, Frankfurt is once again TUI's stock exchange location. We are placing a clear focus on one stock exchange listings instead of two. This step reflects the transformation of the Group. As a brand, TUI is at home in the world, with a strong presence in Europe and in destinations in more than 100 countries around the world, with its headquarters and stock exchange listing in Germany. We want to continue to grow profitably and support this growth and create more value with simpler structures." 
• TUI companies in the UK will remain unaffected by the change in the Group's stock exchange listing and will continue to be key operational core areas for TUI and its guests

After around ten years, the TUI AG share returns to the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange today. TUI Group CEO Sebastian Ebel, together with CFO Mathias Kiep, opened trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange by ringing the stock exchange bell in the trading hall. The initial TUI share price was € 7,73. The Group expects to be admitted to the MDAX on 24 June. The listing on the London Stock Exchange will also end then.

Sebastian Ebel, CEO of TUI Group: "Today is a milestone for TUI, reflecting the transformation of the Group. As of today, Frankfurt is our stock exchange again. We are thus placing a clear focus on one stock exchange listing – instead of two previously two. This increases the visibility and attractiveness of our share for our global investors. As a brand, TUI is at home in the world, with a strong presence in Europe and in destinations in more than 100 countries around the world, as well as its headquarters and stock exchange listing in Germany. We want to expand our international presence, continue to grow profitably and support this growth with simpler structures. By doing so, we will create more value for the company, its employees, customers and shareholders."

From a tour operator based in Hanover and Berlin, TUI has successfully developed into a leading global integrated tourism group with five airlines, three cruise lines, internationally renowned hotel brands and around 400 hotels of its own, as well as a platform for experiences and activities. TUI is active worldwide. In the European source markets, TUI advises its customers in more than 1,200 travel agencies as well as via service centers and online sales channels. The integration of over-the-counter distribution with TUI's own travel agencies, franchise partners, independent travel agencies and online distribution guarantees customers a wide range of products and equally high quality advice and individual service. TUI will continue to stand for this in the future.

The future is geared towards profitable growth, with more customers, new products and new markets to be developed. Digitalisation offers many new opportunities for the tourism group. Structures are becoming simpler and leaner where there is no impact on the customer or where customers are relieved supported by technical innovation and digitalisation. Many countries where the TUI brand is already well known, are now exclusively destinations for holidaymakers. "We also want to develop them as local source markets for customers and use the awareness of the TUI brand for new growth," says Sebastian Ebel. In addition, dynamically packaged products and app sales are to drive the Group's growth.

Quality and service in all areas will be expanded and strengthened. This also includes the sustainable transformation of all business segments. TUI has set itself clear targets for reducing emissions for all businesses and has had these targets for 2030 reviewed and confirmed by the independent SBTi initiative. 

Mathias Kiep, CFO of TUI Group: "The change of the dual listing structure and the return to the Prime Standard in Frankfurt was a carefully considered decision that was supported by our shareholders with an impressive majority (98.35 percent). With today's step, we are simplifying structures, consolidating liquidity in one trading venue and thus strengthening TUI and its global brand presence. We want to continue to grow successfully and TUI should remain an attractive long-term investment for current and new shareholders." 

Since the merger with the former British TUI Travel Plc at the end of 2014, the TUI share has been listed in the premium segment in London, as well as on the regulated market of the Hanover Stock Exchange and on the OTC market in Frankfurt. The decision to list in London in 2014 was a key factor in the successful takeover and integration of the former TUI Travel Plc into TUI Group. However, in the course of the Group's transformation, share custody and liquidity of the TUI share on the stock exchanges have increasingly shifted towards Germany, prompting investors to initiate initial discussions on a change to the dual listing. As announced last year and approved by a large majority at the Group's 65th Annual General Meeting in February 2024, the previous dual listing structure will cease. The change of stock exchange location from London to Frankfurt has no impact on TUI's companies and activities in the UK market. It This market is and will remain a core market for the Group.

At this point you will be shown external content. Click 'Show external content' if you agree. For more information, please see our privacy policy.

About TUI Group

The TUI Group is one of the world's leading tourism groups and operates worldwide. The Group is headquartered in Germany. TUI shares are listed in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, in the regulated market of the Lower Saxony Stock Exchange in Hanover and in the FTSE 250, an index of the London Stock Exchange. TUI Group offers its 19 million customers integrated services from a single source and forms the entire tourism value chain under one roof. The Group owns over 400 hotels and resorts with premium brands such as RIU, TUI Blue and Robinson and 16 cruise ships, ranging from the MS Europa and MS Europa 2 in the luxury class and expedition ships in the HANSEATIC class to the Mein Schiff fleet of TUI Cruises and cruise ships operated by Marella Cruises in the UK. The Group also includes Europe's leading tour operator brands and online marketing platforms, for example for hotel-only or flight-only offers, five airlines with more than 130 modern medium- and long-haul aircraft and around 1,200 travel agencies. In addition to expanding its core business with hotels and cruises via successful joint ventures and activities in vacation destinations, TUI is increasingly focusing on the expansion of digital platforms. The Group is transforming itself into a global tourism platform company.

Global responsibility for sustainable economic, environmental and social action is at the heart of our corporate culture. With projects in 25 countries, the TUI Care Foundation initiated by TUI focuses on the positive effects of tourism, on education and training and on strengthening environmental and social standards. In this way, it supports the development of vacation destinations. The globally active TUI Care Foundation initiates projects that create new opportunities for the next generation.

Linda Jonczyk

More information.

• Press release (PDF)
• Special page: return to prime standard

We use cookies to provide you with an optimized website experience. They include cookies for the operation and optimization of the website as well as cookies for analyses, retargeting and to provide personalised content on websites by third party providers. By clicking on Accept you are agreeing to the use of non-essential cookies. If you don't want that, you can Decline All the use of cookies or change your Settings at any time. For more information, including the processing of data by third party providers, see our Cookie Notice . You can find further information on the use of cookies at any time in our Cookie Notice and our Privacy policy . You will find the Imprint here.

Choose which cookies are permitted by using the “Status”-Switch. Save your settings with the button “I Agree”.

You can find further information on the use of cookies at any time in our Cookie Notice and our Privacy policy . You will find the Imprint here.

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Adiós Thomson: last call for holiday firm that took Britons to sun and sangria

Travel brand that pioneered package holidays to Spanish coast for UK tourists in 1970s and 80s to be phased out by Tui group

“Benidorm for £37”: that was the promise in the Thomson brochure. There would be en suite facilities in every room, “a choice of menu” in the restaurant and dancing twice a week.

The Sunshine Savers offers of the 1970s are long gone; now the venerable Thomson brand is to disappear into the night as well.

Thomson is just one name that is being being swept away by the Tui Group, as it clears out old brands from its package-holiday empire. First Choice is also being axed.

The tour operator names will be replaced by one single Tui brand within three years, the company announced on Wednesday. “It is not a secret that I am not a fan of having lots of brands,” said the joint chief executive, Fritz Joussen.

The switch to one Tui brand will also extend to the group’s airlines, which have around 140 planes. All five Tui carriers — Thomson Airways, TUIfly, TUIfly Nordic, Jetairfly and Arkefly – will be merged into one Tui-branded operation in the UK, as part of a plan to cut costs. But Joussen said it could take up to two years before the Thomson brand disappears completely because of the need to take care with such a well-known name.

Thomson Airways first took off in 1962, when it flew 82 passengers from Manchester to Palma for 13 guineas. As a new generation discovered the pleasures of the Costa del Sol, Thomson moved into selling complete package holidays in 1965 – making foreign holidays vastly more affordable. One deal from 1974 offered two weeks in the sun from £29.

The company was founded by the Canadian press baron Roy Thomson, who owned the Times, the Sunday Times and the Scotsman. Thomson was a shrewd businessman with an eclectic portfolio – he also owned 800m barrels of North Sea oil.

His foray into the holiday industry paid off: Thomson expanded steadily in the 1970s and 80s, creating the travel agency Lunn Poly that ensured its holidays were easy to buy on the high street.

Thomson Travel floated on the London stock exchange in 1998, but soon became a takeover target, as it was seen as overly dependent on the UK. In 2000 it was taken over by an unlikely suitor in the German mining company Preussag, which was already evolving into the travel and leisure company that became Tui AG.

Last year, Tui AG and London-listed Tui Travel merged to create the world’s largest travel and leisure company. The newly-merged group is based in Hannover, but listed in London.

Tui has been faring better than its rival Thomas Cook, as it was quicker off the mark in responding to changing expectations of the package holiday. Tui was among the first agents to offer customers exclusivity on hotels – accommodation that can only be booked through one operator – seen as a crucial way of securing customers in a book-it-yourself era.

The group reported a €168m (£121m) loss in its second quarter, a 17% improvement on its performance in the previous year and a period that covers winter, when bookings are typically lower.

The company said it was pleased with its progress on restructuring. “Our post-merger integration process is ahead of our original plan. Our growth phase is gaining momentum,” said a statement.

• Travel & leisure
• Airline industry
• Air transport

Comments (…)

Most viewed.