Vladimir Raitz

Vladimir Gavrilovich Raitz (born May 23 1922) is the co-founder of the Horizon Holiday Group, who pioneered the first mass package holidays abroad. His family left the Soviet Union when he was 6, and variously passed through Berlin and Warsaw, before they settled in London. He attended Mill Hill School, London and studied Economics at London School of Economics. After graduating in 1942, he started work as a journalist, first for British United Press and then for Reuters between 1943 and 1949.

Entrepreneur

On holiday in Calvi on Corsica in 1949, he was asked by a socialite with local connections, Nicholas Steinheid, to encourage British holiday-makers to come the following year. Having calculated he could charter an aircraft and provide an all-in two-week holiday in Corsica for less than £35, he set up Horizon Holidays on 12 October 1949, and initiated the package holiday industry. The name was chosen to reflect the "blue horizon" that passengers would see from a plane window. With inheritance money he chartered aircraft and made the relevant local connections with the airport at Calvi. However, after considerable delay, it was only in March 1950 that the Ministry of Civil Aviation permitted the flights on the stipulation that they would only be for "students and teachers". A brief advertising campaign in teaching and nursing magazines offered the opportunity for a flight, sleep under canvas, sample local wines and eat a meal containing meat twice a day - this was especially attractive due to the continuing austerity measures in post-war United Kingdom. The all inclusive price was £32.10s.-, or roughly half the cost of the return flight to Nice, the closest airport served by BEA.

First Flight

The first charter flight between Gatwick airport and Corsica was on 20 May 1950. After arranging to pick up passengers from King's Cross Station, eleven "teachers" (paying passengers) and 21 "friends" (guests who returned immediately) were taken by Dakota. After a refuelling stop in Lyon, the passengers arrived at Calvi St Catherine airport [http://www.calvi.aeroport.fr/AeroportCal/accueilAeroCal.php?lang=en] 6 hours later. The holiday makers were taken to the camping grounds of "Club Franco-Britannique". Much of the canvas used in the camping were remainders from the US navy who had constructed the airport in 1943. Although, Raitz did not make his target of 350 paying customers in the first summer, he learnt valuable lessons for the profitable expansion of Horizon Holidays and the package holiday industry.

Mass Tourism started

: 1950 Corsica: 1952 Palma: 1953 Lourdes: 1954 Costa Brava and Alghero Sardinia: 1955 Minorca: 1956 Porto: 1957 Costa Blanca - renamed from Costa Azul: 1959 Costa del Sol: 1962 Ibiza: 1963 Bulgaria: 1965 Algarve: 1970 Crete

Retirement

He left Horizon in 1974 after it was taken over by Clarkson's and became a travel consultant. He was inducted into the British Travel Industry Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Raitz is married, and has 3 daughters and 5 grandchildren.

References

*Simon Calder, " [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20040110/ai_n9684033 Heroes & Villains: Vladimir Raitz] " in "The Independent", Jan 10, 2004