Tui AG has begun the search for a chief executive to replace long-serving Michael Frenzel, a German magazine reported.
Manager Magazin said the group, which has a controlling share in UK-based Tui Travel, was looking internally and externally for a successor to 64-year-old Frenzel, who has been in charge of the German travel and shipping group since 1994.
Johan Lundgren, named deputy chief executive of Tui Travel in October, is seen internally as a potential successor, the report claimed.
Frenzel transformed the Preussag conglomerate, as it was when he took over, into Tui AG via a series of acquisitions, and his contract was extended last year until March 2014.
Tui AG, which is moving to dispose of its stake in container shipping firm Hapag-Lloyd to concentrate on tourism operations and possibly increase the size of its shareholding in Tui Travel, said it had started to look for Frenzel’s successor.
Chairman Klaus Mangold said in a statement: “Considering the complexity of the tourism business and the great challenges at Tui, it is entirely natural that we start the search for a successor early.”
He added that there was no succession timeframe.