Stephanie Schulze zur Wiesch, currently CEO of Ameropa Reisen GmbH, will take over as CEO of DER Touristik Suisse AG on 1 June 2023. Schulze zur Wiesch succeeds Dieter Zümpel, who, on reaching the legal retirement age, is returning to Germany at the end of June after six successful years at the head of the company. After leaving the company, Zümpel will continue to serve the DERTOUR Group in an advisory capacity. Effective 1 June, the experienced tourism manager Schulze zur Wiesch will lead the market-leading Swiss tourism company with more than 900 employees, covering the tour operators Kuoni, Helvetic Tours and ten special tour operators, as well as sales business with more than 70 travel agencies.
With Stephanie Schulze zur Wiesch, the company is bringing a tourism manager on board with more than 20 years’ experience in the industry and an excellent network. After completing her degree in business administration and tourism at Paderborn University, Schulze zur Wiesch began her career in 1999 at TUI Deutschland. She held various managerial positions within the TUI Group until 2020: she took over as Head of Marketing for TUI Deutschland in 2013, was responsible from 2015 for Transformation and Strategy, and also for TUI Hotel Brands and the luxury brand airtours until 2017. After acting as CEO for the round trip and holiday home specialist of the TUI Group, atraveo GmbH & Wolters Reisen GmbH, Schulze zur Wiesch moved in 2020 to the rail travel expert Ameropa-Reisen as Managing Director.
“I am delighted that we have managed to secure the services of Stephanie Schulze zur Wiesch, as an extremely high-profile manager with strong leadership skills, to take over as CEO of DERTOUR Suisse. With her inspiring manner and considerable product and marketing expertise, she will help us to continue on our growth trajectory in the Swiss market,” says Dr Ingo Burmester, CEO Central Europe DERTOUR Group.
Stephanie Schulze zur Wiesch is looking forward to the new challenge and says: “Since the summer, we have seen strong recovery in the travel market. My goal is to use this impetus with the Swiss team for us to further expand the strong market position of DERTOUR Group in Switzerland and continue to develop the important tour operator and sales business. As part of that, I also look forward to working closely together within the DERTOUR Group.”
Regarding the departure of Dieter Zümpel, Burmester stresses: “At the same time, my sincerest thanks go to Dieter Zümpel for his outstanding commitment in the past years. He did an excellent job of managing the integration of DERTOUR Suisse into the DERTOUR Group, leading the company into profitability, and establishing a strong tour operator and sales team. He led the team with much warmth and a steady hand, thus also mastering difficult phases over the course of the pandemic.”
Zümpel joined DERTOUR Suisse in 2016, shortly after the DERTOUR Group had taken over Kuoni Reisen AG. In the past years, Zümpel has successfully driven forward the restructuring of the business, completed the integration into the DER Touristik Group and achieved a market-leading position in Switzerland, which the company also successfully defended during the pandemic.
Media contact
Corporate Communications
t:+49 69 9588-8000
presse@dertouristik.com
Background:
DERTOUR Group has its head office in Cologne, Germany, and is REWE Group’s travel and tourism division. As one of Europe’s leading travel groups, DERTOUR Group encompasses more than 130 companies and employs more than 8,000 people in 16 European countries. Every year, millions of guests travel with one of the group’s tour operators or specialists. DERTOUR Group includes tour operators such as DERTOUR, ITS, Meiers Weltreisen, Kuoni, Helvetic Tours, ITS Coop Travel, Billa Reisen, Koning Aap, Apollo, Exim Tours and Fischer, as well as more than 2,300 travel agencies (such as DERTOUR, DERPART, Kuoni, Exim, and Fischer, as well as franchises and partners), the hotel brands Sentido, Aldiana, Calimera and COOEE, and the online travel agency Prijsvrij Vakanties. The DERTOUR Group also offers on-site support: The company runs an agency network with 74 offices in 29 travel destinations. The staff in the destination agencies assist the guests of the DER Touristik Group from their arrival at their holiday destination and until their departure. For more information, go to www.dertour-group.com.