Travel Industry Loses Visionary Leader With Passing Of Stanley Tollman

The global tourism industry has lost one of its icons with the passing of The Travel Corporation Chairman and Founder Stanley Tollman.

The 91-year-old spent the final days of his life in France surrounded by family, among them some familiar names to travel industry members around the world: Stanley’s wife of nearly 70 years is Beatrice Tollman, President and Founder of Red Carnation Hotels; sons Brett and Gavin are CEO of The Travel Corporation and CEO of Trafalgar respectively.

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Tollman’s family owned and led business celebrated its centenary in 2020. One of the largest privately held travel companies in the world, The Travel Corporation employs over 10,000 people in 70 countries and is responsible for a portfolio of 40 different brands.

Stanley Tollman was born into the hotel industry. His father Solomon bought a rundown building in a small town in South Africa in the 1920s, refurbishing it into a hotel. Stanley grew up in the hospitality environment, and the first thing he and Beatrice did when they got married in the early 1950s was to invest their savings to lease a Johannesburg hotel, soon renowned for its quality and stylish hospitality.

More hotel success followed, both in South Africa and later in the UK, where the Tollmans emigrated in the mid-70s.

By then, Stanley had already made his first venture into the travel industry with the purchase of Trafalgar Tours in the late 1960s. After visiting Canada on his first trip abroad as a young man, he recognized the Canadian love of travel, and opened TTC’s first Canadian office in Toronto in 1968.

A biography supplied by The Travel Corporation reports that Tollman travelled across Canada himself in those early days, hosting travel presentations and visiting travel agent partners.

With the success of Trafalgar, Tollman later purchased and brought youth travel company Contiki to Canada in 1989, followed by premium guided tour brand Insight Vacations in 1994. 2003 saw the acquisition of the Canadian-based Lion World Travel, and Tollman was also instrumental in bringing luxury river cruise line Uniworld to Canada in 2004.

Canada remains the third largest travel market for TTC after more than 50 years of operations here.

A statement from The Travel Corporation Canada paid tribute to the company’s founder.

“It is with deep sadness we announce the passing of The Travel Corporation Chairman and Founder, Stanley Tollman. He is celebrated as as one of the architects of the global tourism industry, a devoted philanthropist and South African-born.”