Marella Cruises

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United Kingdom

About

Marella Cruises is operated by Thomson Holidays, a UK based travel operator and part of TUI Travel PLC. The company (originally named Thomson Tour Operations, and renamed in 1997) was founded as part of the Thomson Travel Group in 1965 following the acquisition of three package holiday travel agencies and the airline Britannia Airways by Roy Thomson. The Thomson Travel Group was owned by the Thomson Corporation of Canada until it was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1998. Thomson UK is headquartered in Luton, England. After the intense price-cutting rivalries of the early 1970s, particularly for the Clarksons Travel Group Thomson restructured the company and in 1972 acquired Lunn Poly, the largest chain of travel agents in the United Kingdom. The name Lunn Poly was kept until 2004, when TUI UK rebranded as Thomson Holidays in order to create a "power brand". The company insisted that there were no plans to rebrand Lunn Poly. The company is now taking more of their business to the web but still hold a big stake in the high street.