KUONI TRAVEL LTD, which has grown into
not only the largest travel company in Switzerland, but
also one of the leading travel organisations in the world,
was founded by Alfred Kuoni in 1906. Alfred Kuoni was born
in Switzerland in 1874 and whilst he spent a few years working
abroad, three of his brothers opened a freight forwarding
agency in Zurich. On returning to Switzerland in 1905 he
entered his brothers' trade and soon suggested the addition
of a travel agency to the already prospering freight business.
Today Kuoni employs over 7,500 staff in 300 offices around
the world. Kuoni in the UK is a wholly owned subsidiary
of Kuoni Travel Ltd in Switzerland.
Since 1966, Kuoni has led the UK longhaul
tour operation market and has consistently been this country's
most successful specialist tour operator. In recent years
the company diversified into niche market operating eg Voyages
Jules Verne, Travel Collection, Sport Abroad, Far East Travel
Centre, Incentives, Trade Fairs and Student Travel. All
of these are successful specialist business units with full
autonomy for product and marketing benefiting from the financial
strength and the central infrastructure of the Kuoni Group.