Romanian Eurolines will next week launch the TUI Travel Center Romania, in partnership with worldwide tourism company TUI Travel. Eurolines announced in June this year that it will expand its operations and will include its 52 agencies under the TUI Travel Center Romania. The TUI branding was to be included in the Eurolines' agencies visual branding, according to the announcement. The deal also included the takeover of Danubius Travel, the company owned by TUI in Romania.

In a first phase, 25 of the 52 Eurolines distribution offices will be renamed TUI Travel Center and the plan is to increase the number of these centers to 100, according to previous statements. “We have been searching for the best solutions to enter the Romanian market for years and we are happy we have found in Eurolines the right partner for a strategic, long-term collaboration,” said Klaus Pümpel, CEO TUI Austria Holding.

Eurolines is owned and led by Dragos Anastasiu and includes 9 companies. The group has 400 employees, a tourism products distribution network in Romania, six franchised units in Germany, a fleet of 35 buses and 200 cars. Its turnover last year was of EUR 33.9 million.

TUI Travel PLC is one of the biggest tourism companies in the world, with activities in 180 countries.

By Corina Saceanu, corina@romania-insider.com