STA Travel
STA Travel logo introduced in 2013
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| Private | |
| Industry | travel |
| Founded | 1971 |
| Headquarters | Zurich, London, Australia |
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Area served
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Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, The United States, Canada, South Africa, Asia, Central Europe, South America |
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Key people
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| Products | Student and youth travel |
| CHF 997 million (US$1,126 million) (2011) | |
| Profit | CHF 141 million (2011) |
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Number of employees
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approx 1943 (2011) |
| Website | http://www.statravel.com |
STA Travel is a collection owned by the Swiss Diethelm Keller Group, with headquarters in Zurich and London. It claims to be the world's largest travel company for students and young people.
The STA group employs nearly 2,000 people in over 200 branches in 12 different countries, with franchises and business partners in another 48 countries. In 2011, its gross turnover was CHF 997 million (US$1,126 million), with net sales – mostly commission on ticket sales – of CHF 141 million.
The business that became STA was founded in the 1970s. Some sources say it was established in 1971 by the Australian Union of Students (AUS); others that it was founded in 1976 by Dick Porter and another student who had returned to Australia from a round the world trip. Originally trading as AUS Student Travel, the Australian business became insolvent in 1979. Its business, including a related UK company, were acquired by Diethelm Keller in July 1979. It became Student Travel Australia and then STA Travel.
By 1985, the group's income had reached US$60 million, expanding into the US and the Far East in the 1980s and 1990s. As of 2013, it has branches in 12 countries, including the UK, USA, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand.
In 2010, the STA Travel group launched its new travel brand Bridge the World, marking the company's first venture outside the youth and student market, targeting an older and more affluent demographic.
STA Travel acquired the BUNAC brand and its business of arranging overseas work and volunteer programmes in 2011, and signed marketing partnership deals with Tourism New Zealand and Tourism Australia in 2013.
In 2014, the company opted to replace the Student Travel Association abbreviation with "Start The Adventure" so as to dissuade anyone that it is solely a company targeting students or those under the age of 26.
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Wikipedia