TUI sheds Thomson brand as it opts to be known by one name
IN 1965, when Roy Thomson first offered a cut-price trip from Manchester to Palma, families were only just beginning to enjoy the delights of a package holiday.
Fifty years later, the eponymous package holiday brand has become a byword for cheap and cheerful trips to warm foreign shores.
But yesterday TUI joint chief executive Fritz Joussen waved farewell to the name in favour of only using TUI.
“It’s not a secret that I’m not a fan of having lots of brands,” Joussen said, adding that it could take two years before the Thomson name disappears because it is so well-known.
Joussen was speaking at TUI Group’s first strategy update since last year’s merger of London-listed TUI Travel and German owner TUI AG.
TUI Group also said it expects annual profit growth of more than 10 per cent over the next three years and that it would sell British hotel booking website LateRooms.