TUI Travel PLC

Infobox_Company
company_name = TUI Travel PLC
company_
company_type = Public (lse|TT.)
foundation = 2007
location = Crawley, England, UK
key_people = Dr. Michael Frenzel (Chairman) , Sir Michael Hodgkinson (Deputy Chairman), Peter Long (Chief Executive)
num_employees = 14,000 | industry = Transport (Holiday Group)
products = Passenger transport, travel agency, accommodation
revenue = £12,840 million (2007)
operating_income = £287 million (2007)
net_income = £56.1 million (2007)

homepage = [http://www.tuitravelplc.com www.tuitravelplc.com]

TUI Travel PLC (lse|TT.) is an international leisure travel company, operating in 180 countries and serving 30m customers. It is headquartered in Crawley, West Sussex, England. It was created by a merger of the tourism division of TUI AG, which owns 51% of the company, and First Choice Holidays PLC. [http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/03/19/bloomberg/bxtui.php TUI and First Choice plan to merge] ]

On 4th June 2007 the European Commission gave conditional clearance for the proposed merger to create TUI Travel PLC and on 3 September 2007 the new company began trading on the London Stock Exchange.

It is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

History

TUI AG

The Company was founded in 1923 in Berlin as "Preßische Bergwerks und Hütten-Aktiengesellschaft" operating in the industrial sector. [http://www.tuitravelplc.com/tuitravel/about/history/ TUI Travel History] ] In 1959 it was first listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and in 1964 became "Preussag". In 2000 it acquired Thomson Travel and in 2002 bought Hapag Lloyd, which itself owned the travel firm TUI (formerly "Touristik Union International"), and renamed itself TUI AG.

First Choice

The Company was founded in 1973 as "Owners Abroad" operating as a travel agent. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1982. In 1987 it launched Air 2000 and in 1990 acquired Redwing. It changed its name to "First Choice" in 1994.

Post merger

The merger of the Travel Division of TUI AG with First Choice was completed in September 2007.

Operations

The Company is organised into five sectors: [ [http://www.tuitravelplc.com/tuitravel/structure/ TUI Travel Structure] ]

* Mainstream Sector The sector has 89 brands including Thomson and First Choice, serves 24m customers a year and is split into two subsections (sales of complete travel packages and sales of components such as flights) and three geographical areas (Central Europe, Northern Europe, Western Europe).
**Central Europe - covering Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Eastern Europe - contributed a fleet of 48 aircraft, a retail estate of 1,774 shops and over 9,400 employees.
**Northern Europe - UK, Ireland and Canada, and the Nordic countries - has a fleet of 84 aircraft, a retail estate of 1,131 shops and over 22,000 employees.
**Western Europe - France, the Netherlands and Belgium - had a fleet of 20 aircraft, a retail estate of 689 shops and over 6,500 employees.

* Specialist & Emerging Markets Sector This sector includes 25 brands, serves 2m customers and has 3,000 employees. This sector is split into three divisions (Destination, Premium and Lifestages). Destination is the companies portfolio of local market leaders, Premium is 5 UK-based brands offering 'premium leisure travel experiences' in Europe, Asia and the Caribbean. Lifestages is the demographic specialist arm, aiming at groups such as older people and students.

* Online Destination Services This sector has 39 brands, serves 15m customers and has 4,400 employees covering direct sale of holidays and components and including Laterooms.com

* Activity This sector has 39 brands, serves 400,000 customers and has 3,300 employees, divided into six subsectors (Marine, Adventure, Polar, Sports, Ski and Schools). Marine comprises Moorings, Footloose & Sunsail Yachts, Sunsail Clubs watersports holidays and Le Boat (formerly Inland Waterways). Adventure includes trekking and expedition cruising companies such as TrekAmerica, Exodus and The Adventure Company. Experiential offers US-based specialist escorted tours. iExplore.com is their one-stop portal website for this sector.

* Island Cruises This sector operates a joint-venture cruise line with Royal Caribbean under the Island Cruises name.

References

External links

* [http://www.firstchoice.co.uk/ First Choice Holidays Home Page]
* [http://www.tuitravelplc.com Corporate website]
* [http://www.tui-group.com/ TUI AG]