About Globus

More than 70 years ago, Antonio Mantegazza bought a rowboat to transport commercial goods across Lake Lugano in Switzerland. Who would have known that rowboat would launch the world's leading guided travel company?

Antonio's frequent trips across the scenic lake led him to consider opportunities in a different market tourism. His entrepreneurial instinct pushed him to gradually acquire some motorcoaches to transport tourists around the Lake Lugano area. In 1928, Antonio opened a company specializing in motorcoach touring called Globus Viaggi. The company began with a fleet of 12 coaches which operated local excursions for European tourists in Switzerland.

By 1950, Globus Viaggi had grown to a fleet of 33 coaches and featured overnight excursions to Rome, Venice, the Dolomites and the French Riviera. Gradually, these became regularly scheduled tours and grew longer to cover more ground. Later that decade, under the leadership of Werner Albek, Antonio's business partner, Globus pioneered the concept of Grand European Touring by offering first-class European tours to North Americans. By 1961, the company launched its Cosmos arm, which featured affordable, budget-priced European touring for the cost-conscious British traveler. The coach tours were so successful that Cosmos soon introduced another form of travel for the British market: air holiday packages to the sunny destinations of southern Europe. By 1968, Cosmos air holidays became so popular the company formed its own airline, Monarch Airlines. Monarch Airlines started out modestly with two used Britannia aircraft and eventually blossomed into one of the most successful European charter companies with a large fleet of modern jets and its own engineering division.

Under the flagship of Sergio Mantegazza, current president and son of Antonio, Globus began expanding its markets beyond Great Britain and North America. Since 1974, tour packages have been sold in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and most recently in Southeast Asia. Starting in the 70's, the company also aggressively expanded its tour offerings, introducing travelers to more countries than any other tour operator with packages to Africa, Antarctica, South and North America, Europe, the South Pacific and Asia.

Today, the Globus family of companies consists of more than 30 tourism and aviation businesses, serviced by a group of more than 5,000 professionals worldwide. Combined, Globus and Cosmos carry about 500,000 passengers a year making the company the leading operator of guided vacations worldwide. Globus attributes its success to the ideals of founder Antonio Mantegazza. For three generations, his vision, hard work, love for travel and commitment have guided the company. These values are the cornerstone on which Globus was built and will continue to grow.