COMPANYHISTORIES
SIC 4724

Travel Agencies

How the companies in this industry began, and the forces that shaped them.

30companies1872–2000founding years29still active1no longer operating
§ 01

The industry over time

Companies foundedEconomyTechnologyEnvironmentHistory
FoundedChina Merchants International Holdings Co., Ltd.
1872
FoundedRosenbluth International Inc.
1892
1903
TechnologyThe Wright brothers achieve powered flight.
1914
EconomyWorld War I begins; global trade reorders.
FoundedAttica Enterprises S.A.
1918
FoundedFinnair OyjFoundedOdakyu Electric Railway Co., Ltd.
1923
FoundedCarlson Companies, Inc.
1938
1939
EconomyWorld War II begins; wartime production surges.
FoundedJohnson Publishing Company, Inc.
1942
1945
EconomyThe war ends; a long global expansion begins.
1947
TechnologyThe transistor is invented.
FoundedGefco SA
1949
FoundedLiberty Travel, Inc.
1951
1958
TechnologyThe integrated circuit is demonstrated.
1962
EnvironmentSilent Spring launches the modern environmental movement.
FoundedAmbassadors International, Inc.
1967
FoundedTUI Group GmbH
1968
FoundedGrupo Eroski
1969
FoundedMorris Travel Services L.L.C.
1971
FoundedAirtours Plc
1972
FoundedFirst Choice Holidays PLC
1973
1975
TechnologyThe personal-computer era begins.
1981
TechnologyThe IBM PC launches and sets a standard.
FoundedNavigant International, Inc.
1983
1984
TechnologyApple ships the Macintosh; the GUI era begins.
1989
HistoryThe Berlin Wall falls; global markets open up.
1991
TechnologyThe World Wide Web is released to the public.
1993
TechnologyThe Mosaic browser brings the web to everyone.
FoundedCarlson Wagonlit Travel
1994
1995
TechnologyWindows 95 launches; the internet goes mainstream.
FoundedSABRE Group Holdings, Inc.
1996
1997
EnvironmentThe Kyoto Protocol sets the first climate targets.
2004
TechnologySocial media and Web 2.0 take hold.
2007
TechnologyThe iPhone launches the smartphone era.
2010
TechnologyCloud computing goes mainstream for business.
2015
EnvironmentThe Paris Agreement sets global climate targets.
2020
EconomyThe COVID-19 pandemic upends the global economy.
2022
EconomyInflation spikes; central banks raise rates sharply.
2023
TechnologyGenerative AI reaches mainstream business use.
§ 02

The companies

China Merchants International Holdings Co., Ltd. →
Active · founded 1872 · Hong Kong
China Merchants International Holdings Co., Ltd.
Rosenbluth International Inc. →
Active · founded 1892
Rosenbluth International, Inc.
Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd. →
Active · founded 1906 · Switzerland
Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd.
Attica Enterprises S.A. →
Active · founded 1918 · Greece
Greece's Attica Enterprises S.A.
Karstadt Quelle AG →
Defunct · founded 1920 · Germany
Karstadt Quelle AG is the product of the 1999 merger between German retail powerhouse Karstadt Aktiengesellschaft and…
Finnair Oyj →
Active · founded 1923 · Finland
Based in Helsinki, Finnair Oyj is the national airline of Finland and the fifth oldest airline in the world.
Odakyu Electric Railway Co., Ltd. →
Active · founded 1923 · Japan
Odakyu Electric Railway Co., Ltd.
S.A.C.I. Falabella →
Active · founded 1937 · Chile
S.A.C.I.
Carlson Companies, Inc. →
Active · founded 1938
Carlson Companies, Inc.
El Corte Inglés Group →
Active · founded 1940 · Spain
El Corte Inglés, S.A.
Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. →
Active · founded 1942
Johnson Publishing Company, Inc., is the world's largest African American-owned publishing company.
Gefco SA →
Active · founded 1949 · France
Gefco SA, based in Courvevoie, France, is one of Europe's leading logistics groups and one of the top ten in the…
Otto Versand (GmbH & Co.) →
Active · founded 1949 · Germany
While Otto Versand (GmbH & Co.) is the world's largest mail-order company with subsidiaries and affiliates in Europe,…
Liberty Travel, Inc. →
Active · founded 1951
Liberty Travel, Inc.
Sime Darby Berhad →
Active · founded 1958 · Malaysia
Sime Darby Berhad is the largest conglomerate in Malaysia and one of the largest in southeast Asia.
Ambassadors International, Inc. →
Active · founded 1967
Ambassadors International, Inc., is a leading provider nationwide of strategy, software, and services for meetings and…
TUI Group GmbH →
Active · founded 1968 · Germany
TUI Group GmbH, based in Germany, is Europe's largest tourism conglomerate.
Dallah Albaraka Group →
Active · founded 1969 · Saudi Arabia
The Dallah Albaraka Group is one of the leading, privately held conglomerates in Saudi Arabia.
Grupo Eroski →
Active · founded 1969 · Spain
Grupo Eroski is the distribution arm and the largest part of Spain's powerful cooperative group Mondragon Corporacion…
Selectour SA →
Active · founded 1970 · France
Selectour SA is France's leading network of independent travel agencies.
Morris Travel Services L.L.C. →
Active · founded 1971
Morris Travel Services L.L.C.
Airtours Plc →
Active · founded 1972 · England
Airtours Plc is one of the largest integrated tour operators and travel agents in the European and North American…
Empresas Almacenes Paris S.A. →
Active · founded 1973 · Chile
Empresas Almacenes Paris S.A.
First Choice Holidays PLC →
Active · founded 1973 · United Kingdom
Having escaped a hostile takeover attempt by larger rival Airtour Plc, and at the same time seeing the collapse of a…
Accor S.A. →
Active · founded 1983 · France
Paris-based Accor S.A.
Navigant International, Inc. →
Active · founded 1983
Navigant International, Inc.
Carlson Wagonlit Travel →
Active · founded 1994
With more than 3,000 offices in more than 140 countries, Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) is the second-largest travel…
Expedia, Inc. →
Active · founded 1996
Expedia, Inc.
SABRE Group Holdings, Inc. →
Active · founded 1996
SABRE Group Holdings, Inc.
Orbitz, Inc. →
Active · founded 2000
Orbitz, Inc.
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