DER Touristik Group and the hospitality subsidiary of German conglomerate Deutsche Seereederei have come together to create a new hotel joint venture.
The new entity, DR Hospitality GmbH & Co KG, will initially be responsible for the operation and marketing of 16 hotels and resorts under the A-Rosa, Aja, Henri Hotels, Louis C. Jacob and Hotel Neptun brands.
Both companies will have a 50% share of the joint venture. The aim of the merger is to become a Europe-wide market leader in environmentally friendly and sustainable tourism with a focus on local and regional markets where the properties can be easily reached by train, bus, and car. The initial focus will be on the Baltic and North Sea, Alpine region and Italian markets at first.
“We’re convinced that sustainable travel, holidays with self-arranged arrival and the desire for health and safety are new leading trends in travel, even after the pandemic. That’s why we’re investing now and are delighted to have found a high-profile, very experienced, and successful partner in Deutsche Seereederei. The combination of hotel expertise with brand competence, knowledge of tourism and travel sales strength represents the ‘perfect match’. Our goals are the growth and development of sustainable tourism concepts, this topic is one of the main priorities of our partnership,” said Sören Hartmann, CEO DER Touristik Group.
Horst Rahe, managing partner of the Deutsche Seereederei Group, added: “Hand in hand with an experienced and financially strong partner, we can achieve our goal of becoming a leading company in the European, environmentally-friendly hospitality and leisure industry in less time and with more certainty. We’re confident to have found an ideal partner here with DER Touristik Group.”
DER Touristik is part of retail and tourism co-operative Rewe Group.
The transaction’s completion is still subject to approval by the responsible antitrust authorities.