Hotelplan Group’s UK brands Inghams, Explore Worldwide, Inntravel and Santa’s Lapland are to be sold to German travel company DERTOUR Group.
Hotelplan owner the Migros Group confirmed DERTOUR has agreed to buy the brands as part of wider deal that also includes Hotelplan’s tour operator and agency businesses in Switzerland and Germany.
DERTOUR owns more than 130 companies, including Kuoni, CV Villas, Jules Verne, Kirker Holidays, Journey Latin America and Carrier in the UK.
The deal does not include Hotelplan’s holiday home specialist Interhome, which will be taken over by the HomeToGo Group, also based in Germany.
Hotelplan UK CEO Joe Ponte said: “After a thorough process, we are pleased that the DERTOUR Group has been confirmed as the new owner of Hotelplan Group, including our UK-based brands Inghams, Explore Worldwide, Inntravel and Santa’s Lapland. The DERTOUR Group has a long history and rich experience in the industry and we’re confident that our specialist brands, products and people will continue to flourish under this new ownership.”
Hotelplan said its workforce ‘will be transferred to the new owners’ and there will be no change for customers who have already booked or to business going forward.
Hotelplan Group Board of Directors Chairman Michel Gruber, who is also Head of the Retail Department at the Federation of Migros Cooperatives said: “It’s hard for Migros to part ways with Hotelplan after so many years. However, we are delighted Hotelplan has secured such highly experienced new owners who are keen to build on the strengths of the Hotelplan Group and Interhome.”
DERTOUR said the deal provides Hotelplan with access to an extensive global network of partners, while DERTOUR will benefit from the Hotelplan Group’s strategic investments in digital solutions, enabling it to provide ‘even more attractive and varied range of high-quality holidays in future’.
The deal is ‘subject to approval by the relevant authorities’, Hotelplan added.
