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Vladimir Gavrilovich Raitz (23 May 1922 – 31 August 2010) was a Russian-born British businessman who co-founded the Horizon Holiday Group, which pioneered the first mass
package holiday A package tour, package vacation, or package holiday comprises transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided such as a rental car, activities or outings during the ...
s abroad. Born in
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, his family were White Russian
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s who left the
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when he was six, and variously passed through
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and
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before finally settling in
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. He attended
Mill Hill School Mill Hill School is a 13–18 co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private, Day school, day and boarding school in Mill Hill, London, England that was established in 1807. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' ...
, London, and studied economics at
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
. After graduating in 1942, he started work as a journalist, first for
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and then for
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from 1943 to 1949.


Entrepreneur

On holiday in Calvi on
Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...
in 1949, he was asked by a socialite with local connections, Nicholas Steinheid, to encourage British visitors the following year. Having calculated he could charter an aircraft and provide an all-in two-week holiday in Corsica for less than £35, he set up Horizon Holidays on 12 October 1949, and initiated the package holiday industry. The name was chosen to reflect the ''blue horizon'' that passengers would see from a plane window. With inheritance money, he chartered aircraft and made the relevant local connections with the airport at Calvi. However, after considerable delay, it was only in March 1950 that the Ministry of Civil Aviation permitted the flights on the stipulation that they would only be for "students and teachers". A brief advertising campaign in teaching and nursing magazines offered the opportunity for a flight, sleep under canvas, sample local wines and eat a meal containing meat twice a day – this was especially attractive due to the continuing
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in post-war United Kingdom. The all-inclusive price was £32.10s.-, or roughly half the cost of the return flight to
Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionBEA.


First flight

The first charter flight between
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and
Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...
was on 20 May 1949. After arranging to pick up passengers from
King's Cross Station King's Cross railway station, also known as London King's Cross, is a passenger railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, on the edge of Central London. It is in the London station group, one of the List of busiest railway stations in ...
, eleven "teachers" (paying passengers) and 21 "friends" (guests who returned immediately) were taken by
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. After a refuelling stop in
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, the passengers arrived at Calvi 6 hours later. The holidaymakers were taken to the camping grounds of ''Club Franco-Britannique''. Much of the canvas used in the camping were remainders from the
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which constructed the airport in 1943.


Retirement

He left Horizon in 1972 after it was taken over by
Court Line Court Line was a 20th-century British Tramp trade, tramp shipping company that was founded in 1905. In the 1960s it diversified into shipbuilding and Air charter, charter aviation. Its merchant shipping interests were based in Port of London, Lo ...
(which had also previously taken over Clarksons) and became a travel consultant. Court Line went into liquidation in August 1974. He was inducted into the British Travel Industry Hall of Fame. His personal memoir, ''Flight to the Sun'', was published in 2001.


Personal life

Raitz had 3 daughters and 5 grandchildren.


References

*
Vladimir Raitz Obituary
in ''
The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...
'', Sept 3, 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Raitz, Vladimir 1922 births 2010 deaths People educated at Mill Hill School Alumni of the London School of Economics British people of Russian-Jewish descent Russian businesspeople in the United Kingdom Soviet emigrants to the United Kingdom