Kuoni Travel has acquired a majority stake in UTE Megapolus, the Russian based tour operator specialising in high-quality leisure travel. Kuoni now owns 80% of the company but leaves Eduard Kuznetsov, UTE Megapolus CEO in overall executive charge. The deal is now subject to the approval of the Russian competition authorities, who are expected to consider the takeover within the next few weeks.
UTE Megapolus, which is based in Moscow, provides ski holidays within the Alpine region, as well as more traditional beach holidays in Greece and Croatia. India and China travel packages are also available.
The tour operating market within Russia is fairly young but has seen growth of around 10 -15% over the past few years, leading Kuoni Group CEO Armin Meier to feel hopeful for the future: "The Russian leisure travel market has tremendous further potential, especially in the field of providing high-quality travel products for more affluent customers. So this acquisition fits exactly into our strategy of achieving further business growth, especially in specialist segments.”
