No German company has ever gone through such a marked transformation as TUI AG. The Group emerged from the former Preussag AG and within just a few years developed from an industrial conglomerate to an innovative tourism and shipping concern. Today TUI is a company with about 63,000 employees throughout the world, and which leads the market in Europe. National economies can take decades to go through such a transformation.

In the middle of the nineties, in a difficult economic climate, Preussag AG’s management made the far-reaching decision to enter the expanding service sector market focussing on tourism. A rapid process started, characterised by restructuring, investment and disinvestment. In 1997 the then Preussag acquired Hapag-Lloyd AG, a strong partner with its own travel agency chain, airline and world-wide logistics service. With a one hundred percent stake in TUI Deutschland the Group secured a quality holiday travel brand. The tourism value