Thomson Holidays

Thomson Holidays is a UK-based travel operator and subsidiary of TUI Group.

The Thomson Travel Group was owned by the Thomson Corporation of Canada until it was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1998. The headquarters of Thomson UK are in Luton, England.

The Thomson brand, as well as other TUI-owned travel operators, is due to be phased out by 2018. It will operate under the single TUI name.

History

The company (originally named Thomson Tour Operations (TTO), and renamed in 1997) was founded as part of the Thomson Travel Group in 1965 following the acquisition of four tour operators, Skytours, Riviera, Luxitours, Gaytours and the airline Britannia Airways by Roy Thomson.

Intense competition continued between the four acquired operators which allowed the rival Clarksons Travel Group to become the lead player in the new and rapidly expanding UK package holiday market, while Thomson initially lacked any effective strategy to fight back. But in 1971, following the appointment of Bryan Llewellyn as TTO's 7th Managing Director, a whole new Board of Directors was created, with the travel trade veteran Norman Corkhill as company chairman. A clear strategy was now implemented, as part of which the businesses were re-branded and re-launched under a single name as "Thomson Holidays".