Intourist

Intourist (Russian: Интурист, contraction of иностранный турист, "foreign tourist") is a Russian tour operator, headquartered in Moscow. It was founded on April 12, 1929 and served as the primary travel agency for foreign tourists in the Soviet Union. It was privatized in 1992 and from 2011, was 50.1% owned by the British Thomas Cook Group until its collapse in September 2019. In November 2019, Anex Tours acquired the stake from the British Official Receiver.

Intourist
Native name
Интурист
Open joint-stock company
IndustryTourism and hospitality
Founded1929 (1929)
HeadquartersMoscow, Russia
Area served
Russia
Key people
ParentNeset Kockar (50.1%)
Sistema (49.9%)
Websitewww.intourist.com 
Intourist buses at the Palace Square, Leningrad, 1980

Soviet era

Intourist was founded on April 12, 1929 as the "All-Russian Joint-Stock Company for the Acceptance of Foreign Tourists" (Russian: Всероссийское акционерное общество по приему иностранных туристов ВАО «Интурист»). Intourist was responsible for managing the great majority of foreigners' access to, and travel within, the Soviet Union. In 1933, the president of Intourist, Wilhelm Kurz, a member of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union, was the first Soviet official to visit the United States after the U.S. granted recognition to the Soviet Union.[1]

In 1933 Aron Sheinman started work for Intourist in London and filled the post of Director from 1937 to 1939. When he was dismissed he refused to return to Moscow, and gained British citizenship later that year.[2]

After privatisation

Intourist, as the exclusive travel agency in the Soviet Union, held a dominant position in the market with 110 hotels and handling 2 million foreign tourists per year in 1990.[3] The enterprise was privatised in 1992. In 1992, Intourist became the first Russian company to acquire an American company when it acquired a 75% interest in Rahim Tours of Florida.[4] In 2011, British tour operator Thomas Cook Group plc acquired a 50.1% interest in Intourist for $45 million. The company sought to gain access to Russian travelers going abroad. Intourist had handled 600,000 passengers in 2009.[5] On 15 November 2019, Neset Kockar, chairman of Turkish tour operator Anex Tours, acquired Intourist from Thomas Cook's liquidators.[6]

Publications
gollark: Why is everyone g?
gollark: I would download more RAM, but I ran out of internet and I can't download more internet.
gollark: This *is* a lot slower, I think, so try and avoid it in general.
gollark: Oh right, you probably could pick out classes that way.
gollark: No.

See also

References
  1. "Kurtz, Here, Gives Soviet Travel Aim". New York Times. 1933-11-22.
  2. "Aaron Lwowitch SCHEINMAN, aliases SHEIMANN, CHEINMAN: Russian/British. A revolutionary". The National Archives. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  3. "Suddenly, the Specter of Capitalism Is Haunting Intourist". New York Times. 1990-11-18.
  4. "Company News: Russia Investment". 1992-03-25.
  5. "Stalin-era tour operator comes in from the cold". Financial Times. 2010-11-25.
  6. "Russian travel agency Intourist plans IPO after shareholder change". Reuters. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
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