Tour Operators

Spain Attacks Won’t Adversely Impact European Travel Market, Says TUI CEO

Christopher Jasper, Bloomberg

Tragedies happen and people keep on traveling because — as an IAC/Expedia official put it soon after 9/11 — without travel there is no life. TUI and other tour operators are optimistic about their forecasts.

1 month ago

Tour Operator CEOs Say Turkey Is Coming Back to Take the Strain Off Spain

Patrick Whyte, Skift

Tour operators have longed for Turkey and, to a lesser extent, Egypt and Tunisia to return to their previous popularity. All of these destinations offer better value to consumers than Spain, which is at close-to-full capacity and more expensive. Their return is also good news for the people who rely on tourism for a living.

1 month ago

Thomas Cook To Let Guests Choose Their Own Rooms as Operator Accelerates Hotel Improvements

Patrick Whyte, Skift

Under CEO Peter Fankhauser, Thomas Cook has quietly managed to turn itself around. The situation this year has undoubtedly been aided by an improving geopolitical climate but a more focussed, higher-quality product offering has also helped.

2 months ago

What Travel to North Korea Says — And Doesn’t Say — About Adventure Travel

Steven Schwankert, Skift

The death of a young American illustrates the continuing risk for niche operators committed to taking travelers to remote and risky parts of the world, including North Korea. They’re called risky for a reason.

2 months ago

Travel to Russia Surges Despite Geopolitical Tension

Nikki Ekstein, Bloomberg

Russia is experiencing a huge tourism Trump bump, and tour operators are slammed with demand from U.S. travelers.

3 months ago

Tour Operator That Brought American to North Korea Has Unprofessional Reputation

Gerry Shih, Associated Press

The founder of Young Pioneer Tours left the company to form GN Tours, which at one point stood for Gross Negligence tours. That about says it all.

3 months ago

Contiki’s Western Europe Tours Are Popular But Eastern Europe Is on the Rise

Dan Peltier, Skift

Contiki doesn't think millennials, which tend to be an open-minded demographic, are too concerned about sporadic terrorism incidents in Europe but we'll let the data speak for itself later this year.

4 months ago

Thomas Cook Is Cautiously Optimistic About its China Business

Dan Peltier, Skift

Thomas Cook has hit the ground running in China but it's not running away from its core business in Europe. The group doesn't want to be too aggressive in China before its made more of a name for itself in the market and sees how consumers respond.

4 months ago

Video: TUI’s CMO on Growing an Established Brand in a Fragmented Market

Patrick Whyte, Skift

TUI Group has a big job on its hands during its move away from country-specific brands, but the prize is a substantial one. If it manages to create a global superbrand it will make it much easier to expand into new areas and markets.

4 months ago

Adventure Travel Firm Intrepid Group Says It’s Stronger After TUI Breakup

Raini Hamdi, Skift

After kissing TUI goodbye, Intrepid Group has a new adventure -- to be a company with $1 billion in revenue. With experiential travel being the buzzword, and having incorporated lessons from TUI into the company, it may achieve the goal sooner than five years.

4 months ago

U.S. Travel Industry Jobs Show Healthy Growth and 12 Other Tourism Trends This Week

Sarah Enelow, Skift

These are the tourism trends we were talking about this week.

4 months ago

Private Equity Rips Apart Kuoni as Thomas Cook India Gets More Global

Raini Hamdi, Skift

Thomas Cook India’s acquisition of Kuoni’s network of destination management companies is a story of how an Indian company becomes a global player overnight. There are also deep wounds about how a global company like Kuoni could end up being broken, literally, to pieces.

4 months ago