One of the largest travel agencies in the Netherlands, D-reizen, with 285 stores and 1,150 employees, had been declared bankrupt in 2021. The company was one of the largest travel agencies in the country. Apollo Reizen, belonging to DER Touristik, naturally takes place in the country.
Apollo Reizen moves to Holland
Apollo Reizen offers destinations in Scandinavia and the Mediterranean. The Dutch office is the first office outside Northern Europe and will initially focus on selling popular sun destinations.
Apollo: more than 30 years of experience in Scandinavia
It is an important player during the summer months in and around the Mediterranean. With specialized organizers Adventure Tours, Golf Plaisir, Lime Travel and Xtravel and the Playitas sports and training hotel. From the Netherlands, Apollo Reizen offers vacation packages to some of the most popular destinations around the Mediterranean, such as Greece, Cyprus, Spain and Croatia, as well as the Canary Islands, Egypt and the Emirates United Arab States,” says Peter Browall, Vice President. DER Touristik specialists.
Apollo is already in Amsterdam
The Dutch office will be located in Amsterdam. “We are already established in the Netherlands, with Koning Aap, Shoestring and YourWay2GO under the auspices of Adventure Specialists BV. At the same time, we see Apollo’s range of sun and beach holiday products fitting in well in the Dutch market, as we offer something for everyone. From family vacations to first-class sports trips.”
“The sale of trips will start in early 2023. The first trips will go to Greece and Croatia in the summer of 2023. Apollo already has a unique and strong position here, with nearly 50 destinations and more than 800 hotels.
Shoestring wants to be the best sustainable travel organizer
“We remain one travel organization which organizes trips to destinations inside and outside Europe. This means that we will continue to use international flights – also in the future. We are trying to limit the effects as much as possible by encouraging non-stop flights, by offering destinations in Europe accessible by international train and by flying less within the destination itself.”
“We also continue to strive for a healthy profit . Without profit, we have no right to exist. This means that we regularly have to make compromises between measures to travel more sustainably on the one hand and commercial considerations on the other.
For example, from a sustainability perspective, it may be better to travel by public bus from Cuzco to Lima (Peru) instead of using a domestic flight. However, the 5 p.m. night bus along deep ravines will be a step too far for many travelers. This is why we consider here geared towards the customer and therefore also plan a domestic flight anyway. We have to make these kinds of considerations on a daily basis, in which a good balance must be found between sustainability and commerce. We want to share these considerations of transparent way with you. We want to become the most sustainable travel organization from Europe (or the world). It goes without saying that it should not be misunderstood that we are certainly not there yet and that we still have a (long) way to go. We can still greatly improve on many subjects. We want to take many drastic measures in the short term to achieve this goal. For some of you, these steps will not go far enough and will also be taken too slowly. It cannot be avoided. But in the framework in which we work and compared to other tour operators, these will be big steps. We would also like to receive your comments to improve ourselves further.”
