Thomson Travel Group plc was a business formed by the

Thomson Corporation The Thomson Corporation was one of the world's largest information companies. It was established in 1989 following a merger between International Thomson Organisation Ltd (ITOL) and Thomson Newspapers. In 2008, it purchased Reuters Group to fo ...

of Canada, when it was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1998. It was acquired by Preussag AG, an industrial and transport conglomerate, in 2000. The group continued until 2002 when it was renamed TUI Northern Europe Limited, a full subsidiary of

TUI AG TUI Group is a German leisure, travel and tourism company. TUI is an acronym for ''Touristik Union International'' ("Tourism Union International"). TUI AG was known as Preussag AG until 1997 when the company changed its activities from mining to ...

History

The company was created in 1965 when

of Canada acquired four tour operators, Skytours, Riviera, Luxitours and Gaytours as well as the airline

Britannia Airways Britannia Airways was a charter airline based in the UK. It was founded in 1961 as Euravia and became the world's largest holiday airline. Britannia's main bases were at London Gatwick, London Stansted, London Luton, Cardiff, Bristol, East Mi ...

, and named the combined business Thomson Travel. Thomson, Market Place, Wetherby (1st February 2012)

In 1970, the business was re-launched as "Thomson Holidays" under the leadership of Bryan Llewellyn as managing director. In 1972 Thomson acquired

Lunn Poly Lunn Poly was, at one time, the largest chain of travel agents in the United Kingdom. History The company originated from two successful travel agencies established in the 1890s, the Polytechnic Touring Association and Sir Henry Lunn Travel. Bot ...

, a small chain of agents which Thomson grew to become the largest chain of travel agents in the United Kingdom. In 1981, Thomson Holidays were the first recorded users of Business-to-Business

online shopping Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the r ...

. The business was floated on the London Stock Exchange with a valuation of £1.7 billion as Thomson Travel in May 1998. In 2000, Thomson Travel was acquired by Preussag AG, an industrial and transport conglomerate. Although Preussag AG, which re-named as TUI AG in 2002, retained the Thomson brand for a while, it was retired completely in 2017.

Thomson Founders' Club

When Thomson Travel was floated in 1998, new shareholders were given membership in the "Thomson Founders' Club" which offered a 10% discount on Thomson holidays. Membership was conditional on retaining a minimum of 294 shares, but when Thomson Travel was acquired by Preussag membership of the Founders' Club was made permanent and unconditional. However, on 31 January 2008 the Club was abolished without notice or compensation.

References

External links

{{Authority control TUI Group Travel and holiday companies of the United Kingdom Transport companies established in 1965 Transport companies disestablished in 2002 Defunct cruise lines Companies based in Luton