 Back to Luzi Matzig's Home
High flier up above
|
|
Luzi Matzig in TravelAsia
TravelAsia, August 13, 1999
By Raini Hamdi The "mystery" investor in Asian Trails has turned out to be Evi Diethelm, 33, daughter of Marc Diethelm. The Diethelm involvement in a company set up to compete head on with Diethelm Travel Thailand by its former head Luzi Matzig comes as an irony and, some say, a "stinger" for Diethelm Travel. Evi Diethelm has poured in an investment of three million baht into Asian Trails, representing a share of 25 per cent in the company. Matzig owns 51 per cent and the rest is held by other managers and staff of Asian Trails. Asked why she has decided to invest in Asian Trails, Diethelm said, "I am only a minority shareholder in Diethelm, without any direct involvement in Diethelm Travel. "Briefly, getting involved in Asian Trails seems like a good investment. The reason for this decision is simply that success or failure in the travel business strongly depends on personal relationships between the partners, and the personnel make-up has recently changed drastically at Diethelm Travel; most of the key staff have joined Asian Trails." She added, "With both key staff and key accounts having joined the new company, Asian Trails is a real powerhouse which will obtain a leading position in the market within a very short time." There has been more brain and accounts drain from Diethelm, even as she said this. Laurent Kuenzle, who replaced Matzig as group managing director of Diethelm and is also its managing director Myanmar, has resigned to join Asian Trails as managing director Myanmar effective November 1. Jacques Guichandut, Diethelm�s managing director Cambodia, has also resigned and will hold the same post at Asian Trails, also effective November 1. Currently, Asian Trails has 56 staff, 51 of them former Diethelm Travel executives. The Myanmar and Cambodia offices are additions to offices in Bangkok, Phuket and Samui. And barely weeks after it sealed the lucrative Kuoni account (TravelAsia, June 25, 1999), Asian Trails has also nabbed another Diethelm account, Wettstein Switzerland, which is worth about 30 million baht a year. Asian Trails will handle an expected 3,500-4,000 Wettstein passengers per year in Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar. Asked if a new company like Asian Trails has to undercut prices to grab accounts, Matzig said, "I never, never lower the rates. There is no need. People know who we are, where our expertise lies. We want to give better service, more sought-out tour combinations, the best guides � these cannot be cheaper. Clients know in the end, they get a better deal." Thomas Reiter, boss of Diethelm Travel, has not at press time responded to TravelAsia�s queries on how the staff and accounts movements would affect Diethelm and its strategy to stay ahead.
|
Photos
Luzi Matzig in other news sources
