Joe Ponte to leave Hotelplan as Dertour completes acquisition

CEO of Dertour will assume responsibility 

Kuoni parent Dertour Group has completed the acquisition of four of the five business units of the Hotelplan Group, following the approval by the Swiss Competition Commission.

The deal includes the entire travel retail and tour operator business of Hotelplan Group in Switzerland, Germany and the UK. Holiday home specialist Interhome, which is being taken over by the HomeToGo Group, is excluded.

The travel brands of Hotelplan Group will join the Dertour Group, which is represented in 16 source markets with more than 180 companies and about 13,000 employees.

Joe Ponte, chief executive of Hotelplan UK and board member at Hotelplan Group, will be leaving at the end of September.

Francis Torrilla, chief executive of Dertour UK, will assume leadership of the expanded group in the UK market.

In a statement, Dertour said: “The acquisition significantly expands the size and scale of Dertour UK, with the addition of four successful brands including Explore Worldwide, Inghams, Inntravel and Santa’s Lapland.

“Dertour becomes a group of 11 thriving specialist businesses, which will all remain and complement each other.”

Ponte said: “I will be leaving my position incredibly proud of everything our teams have achieved.

“Driven by passion, we’ve transformed our businesses to focus equally on planet, people and profit, constantly striving for excellence for our customers.

“I am confident that Dertour will be a strong, supportive home for our brands.”

The statement from Dertour said the brands will be “further developed, so customers can have every confidence they will be looked after by trusted travel teams”.

Torrilla added: “There is a very good fit between the businesses, we are a diverse, purpose-led group with a strong focus on respect for our environment, lightening our footprint on the destinations we send customers to and operating business in a sustainable way.

“Our workplace culture is a positive one, we are based on values of respect, support and personal development and we want to welcome all the new colleagues into the group.”

Christoph Debus, chief executive of Dertour Group, said: “We express our sincere appreciation to the Hotelplan Group’s entire leadership team for their exceptional dedication over recent months.

“They have demonstrated unwavering commitment to both the organisation and its employees, steering the company successfully through a challenging period in its history.

“We would also like to thank Joe as he hands over the leadership of some exceptional brands that we are excited to bring into the Dertour UK portfolio. We wish him every success in his future career.”

He added: “This marks the beginning of growing together as a team, which we are approaching with great energy and a clear vision for further profitable growth.

“As an internationally renowned travel company and a subsidiary of Rewe Group, we stand for a high level of reliability, excellence and professionalism.”

The acquisition of Hotelplan from long-standing owner Migros, the leading Swiss retail cooperative, was announced in February.

Dertour’s UK interests also include Carrier, CV Villas, Journey Latin America, Jules Verne, Kirker and Solmar Villas.