Almost too good to be true

After months of uncertainty for Hotelplan employees, it is now official: Migros is selling its travel subsidiary to the German Dertour Group, while Hometogo has secured the prime piece Interhome. At first glance, this sounds like a success story – but is it really that simple?

The acquisition of a majority stake in the Hotelplan Group by an established travel company like Dertour—rather than an anonymous group of investors—is undoubtedly positive news. As a direct competitor until now, the new owner has extensive knowledge of the Swiss market and brings valuable experience.

Employees can also breathe a sigh of relief for the time being, as Dertour has assured that nothing will change for them in the immediate future. "We aim for sustainable and profitable growth, and to achieve that, we need our new colleagues, who bring a wealth of expertise," says Ingo Burmester, CEO Central Europe at Dertour. The existing branches will also remain in place, with personal advice continuing to be a key pillar of the business model, Burmester adds.

Sounds good – but will it stay that way?

However convincing the promises may seem, skepticism remains warranted. Takeovers often create short-term winners but can also result in long-term losses. When companies merge, redundancies are inevitable.

Hotelplan and Dertour operate numerous specialist brands with overlapping offerings, and some branches are located just a few meters apart. There is also likely to be potential for synergies in back-office operations—and synergies often lead to streamlining.

Even if no job cuts are currently planned, there will be ongoing reviews in the coming months that could lead to a gradual adjustment. Today a branch remains, tomorrow it is no longer profitable. Today the expertise of the employees is valued, tomorrow the costs appear too high.

For Migros, the deal is a convenient solution. It can part with its travel subsidiary with a clear conscience, without having to listen to accusations of mass layoffs. But whether the promise of continuity will be kept remains to be seen. The fact is, Hotelplan now belongs to a profit-oriented German company that is investing not out of pure altruism, but to make a profit.

So for the time being it's a happy ending – but the last chapter of this story is far from being written. It will take months or even years before a real conclusion can be drawn. Until then, it's almost too good to be true.