Dertour to retain all 11 brands after Hotelplan takeover

Dertour UK has pledged all 11 tour operators in its enlarged portfolio will continue as independent brands as it looks to “evolve and grow” following the completion of its Hotelplan acquisition.

 

The deal to buy four out of five units of the Hotelplan Group from Swiss retail cooperative Migros, announced in February, has been finalised following approval by the Swiss Competition Commission.

 

The UK arm of Dertour Group – Europe’s second-largest travel group – now comprises 11 specialist businesses. Explore Worldwide, Inghams, Inntravel and Santa’s Lapland have joined existing UK brands Kuoni, Carrier, CV Villas, Journey Latin America, Jules Verne, Kirker and Solmar Villas.

 

Dertour UK boss Francis Torrilla has been promoted to the helm of the significantly expanded UK business, while Hotelplan UK chief executive Joe Ponte has left the business.

 

Torrilla promised “no immediate changes” to job roles or teams within the group’s UK brands, or to current business locations “for now”, but hinted at efficiencies on “shared services” such as IT and finance.

 

He said: “We’ll be a group of 11 specialist businesses, so it [this deal] significantly expands the size and scale of our operation in the UK.

 

“It’s important to say that all the specialist businesses will remain. Inghams, Inntravel, Explore Worldwide and Santa’s Lapland are well-loved brands and operate independently.

 

“We both have shared services such as IT, finance, HR, project management, sustainability and communications and we’ll take time to look at how we manage that moving forward, so we can work efficiently and enable our brands to thrive.”

 

He stressed agents would remain part of the distribution mix, with brands retaining separate marketing, sales and trade relations functions.

 

Torrilla added: “All the brands complement each other. They operate in specific markets, so we don’t believe there is any overlap. We want to evolve and grow and it’s an exciting time for us to be part of one team.”

 

If job changes are required, the business would “work through them carefully and communicate openly with our teams”.