Where have
we come from

Our History

First Choice Holidays PLC has been in the travel business since 1973, originally fl oating on the London Stock Exchange in 1982 and changing its name from Owners Abroad in 1994. Over the past ten years the Group has complemented its core Mainstream portfolio with the acquisition of specialist and activity holiday businesses as well as bed banks and travel services providers. Throughout this transformation, Mainstream Holidays has continued to remain a vital and dynamic part of the Group.

In 2004, First Choice Holidays brought all its Mainstream businesses from shops, to its airline under the First Choice brand and focused strongly on securing customer loyalty by creating differentiated product, from its exclusive Holiday Village concept, to high quality children’s clubs.

First Choice Holidays has demonstrated a consistent commitment to innovation, challenging British holidaymakers to rethink the traditional two weeks in the Western Mediterranean and to explore new destinations such as Sri Lanka and Costa Rica.

In 2004, First Choice Airways became the fi rst UK carrier to sign up for the new Boeing 787 aircraft. This plane will help us to build on the development of our award-wining long-haul experience, which has seen it offer unparalleled seat comfort, entertainment and service for long-haul customers.

In recent years, First Choice Holidays has been steadily increasing control of its own distribution, opening nearly 400 shops and travel pods and developing a signifi cant web presence. This, coupled with the continued investment in innovative product and great service, has helped it to generate some of the best margins in the leisure travel market.

TUI UK Ltd

Thomson Travel Group ‘TTG’ was founded in 1965 following the acquisition of three package holiday travel agencies (Skytours, Gaytours and Luxitours) and Britannia Airways by Roy Thomson. In the 1970s, TTG acquired Lunn Poly, the UK’s largest chain of travel agents. It rebranded as Thomson in 2004.

TTG fl oated on the London Stock Exchange in May 1998 with a valuation of £1.7 billion. In 2000, it was acquired by Preussag AG, a European industrial, transport and leisure conglomerate. Renamed TUI AG on 1 July 2002, this became the largest tourism and services group in the world. TTG became TUI Northern Europe Ltd with TUI UK Ltd and Britannia Airways Ltd (rebranded Thomsonfl y in 2005) subsidiaries of the group.

Today TUI UK Ltd, the tour operator of the UK group, encompasses some of the world’s best-known travel brands, including Thomson and Portland Holidays. Thomson has been the market leader in the UK inclusive holiday market since 1974. The company has about one third of the UK market and operates in a wide range of resorts offering a variety of holidays to suit all ages and tastes. All products and brands share the same philosophy - to be Number One - providing customers with the best possible holiday for their money. Thomsonfly, the UK’s third largest airline in terms of aircraft fleet, offersan award winning network of low-cost fl ights from 24 UK airports to more than 80 global destinations. It has recently bought three new Boeing 737-800s and signed up to eleven 787 Dreamliners.

Like First Choice, Thomson is known for its innovative approach. Its fl agship Thomson.co.uk website (one of the UK’s top three travel websites) boasts a Google-powered search facility, over 2000 videos and thousands of customer reviews and images, and Google Earth. Other innovations include the new concept Sensatori resorts and its 24/7 HolidayLine customer support service.