Travel Brands is part, as of October 2019, of the DER Touristik Group, operator of the Dertour brand and one of the largest tourism companies in the world, the company announced on Wednesday in a press release.
The transaction was authorized by the Competition Council and finalized according to the planning.
Through this step, the DER Touristik Group, headquartered in Cologne, Germany, is expanding into a dynamic, fast-growing market - and where, following the takeover of the network of travel agencies, it becomes a market leader.
Travel Brands is the leader of the Romanian tourism market, and all the 400 employees we are taking over are an asset for our activities and plans in Eastern Europe. We are very motivated when it comes to revamping the idea of holiday on the Romanian market. We support them with all the power and resources of our Group. The use of the Dertour brand in Romania for both retail and tour-operation will definitely strengthen our position on the local travel market, said Soren Hartmann, CEO of DER Touristik Group.
Travel Brands is a well-positioned company: it is a tour-operator, it has a distribution network, it has its own incoming operator, as well as a business travel division. We can successfully provide our customers with support throughout the travel process, for a perfect holiday - from consultancy, the booking of all services and assistance throughout the holiday, explains Hartmann.
According to the organizational structure of the DER Touristik Group, Travel Brands belongs to the specialized division in Eastern Europe and is already operationally integrated. By 2020, the Travel Brands portfolio will be expanded by adding additional tourism products, new destinations and services for Romanian customers.
"The rebranding process of the network of agencies, which worked 8 years under the name TUI TravelCenter and which is the largest in Romania, started in October and is nearing completion. All these agencies will soon be named Dertour," says Dragos Anastasiu, President of the Eurolines Group, which included Travel Brands.