Global tourism industry visionary, entrepreneur and philanthropist Stanley S. Tollman, founder and chairman of The Travel Corporation (TTC), has died at the age of 91 following a battle with cancer, the company announced Thursday. TTC today comprises more than 40 brands operating in 70 countries, including Trafalgar, Insight Vacations, Contiki Holidays, Red Carnation Hotels and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, along with not-for-profit TreadRight Foundation; the company employs more than 10,000 people.
From South Africa to 70 Countries
The son of Jewish Lithuanian immigrants who escaped life-threatening anti-Semitism in Czarist Russia, Tollman was born in the small South African fishing village of Paternoster in the Western Cape where his parents operated a modest hotel with outdoor toilets. His father, Solomon Tollman, called the family’s customer care ethos “driven by service”—and this approach would become the hallmark of Stanley Tollman’s life’s work.
In 1954, Stanley Tollman married Beatrice Lurie. Sharing an interest in hospitality, the couple used their wedding money to purchase their first property—the Nugget Hotel in Johannesburg. Tollman’s second investment, The Hyde Park Hotel, came in 1955 and catapulted the young hotelier to fame, the company says. At Hyde Park, Stanley and Bea worked in partnership, with Stanley responsible for front-of-house, while Bea operated behinds the scenes, becoming the only female head chef in South Africa at the time. Tollman traveled the world to bring international cabaret acts to perform at the hotel, elevating South Africa’s exposure to international artists in dance and music.
The Tollman reputation grew with the introduction of Tollman Towers, touted as South Africa’s first five-star, all-suite hotel, followed by his first venture into the travel industry with purchase of Trafalgar Tours in 1969. This not only expanded Tollman’s holdings beyond hotels, but to global travel markets, paving the way for the creation of The Travel Corporation as it is today. In the years that followed, the company’s hotel and travel portfolio expanded to include Red Carnation Hotels (named after the red carnation Tollman wore in his lapel), as well as Insight Vacations, Contiki Holidays and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises.
As race-based tensions emerged in South Africa, Tollman challenged apartheid policies: He was one of the first hoteliers to invite black guests and performers into his hotels and he championed a training program for young black people in the hospitality business, unlocking employment opportunities until then only available for whites. Unable to affect or tolerate apartheid, Tollman divested his South African assets in 1976 and moved with his wife and four children to London where they owned the Montcalm Hotel in Marble Arch. Later, once apartheid was abolished, Tollman returned to South Africa in 1994. Here, Tollman coordinated the first international tours of foreign artists to the “new” South Africa, an experience that changed his understanding of the relationship between guests and local peoples and created a groundswell of local pride around their newly liberated country.
As a result, all TTC brands now offer opportunities for guests to meet and engage with locals in authentic ways. In 2003, he established the Tollman Award for the Visual Arts, celebrating the development of the arts in South Africa. Since its inception, the award has had advanced the achievement and body of work of its recipients that have included Zanele Muholi, Portia Zvavahera, Mawande Ka Zenzile and Nicholas Hlobo, whose work has been exhibited in such locations as the Tate Modern and the Venice Biennale.
Through his brands, Tollman has introduced tens of thousands of visitors to Africa and in 2020, after completing a three-year "reimagination," he unveiled his piéce de rèsistance, Xigera Safari Lodge in Botswana’s Okavango Delta. The safari lodge is notable for its sustainability credentials, including investment in a solar farm and achievement of a carbon-negative footprint.
A Pioneer of the Sustainability Movement
During TTC’s years of expansion, Tollman became mindful of the relationship between travelers and the places and people they visited. In 2008, he established and chaired The Travel Corporation Conservation Foundation (TTC-CF), one of the travel industry’s first sustainable organizations focused on community empowerment and conservation partnerships. Through the TTC-CF, which was renamed The TreadRight Foundation in 2012, Tollman challenged the travel industry to measure tourism’s success beyond bottom-line growth.
Today, TreadRight supports over 55 projects worldwide, has developed a five-year sustainability strategy aligned with United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, and requires all TTC brands to embed measurable sustainability efforts across the business. In 2020, TreadRight was recognized in a Harvard University case study for its measurable sustainable tourism development. Its consumer-facing “#MakeTravelMatter” campaign engages travelers in TreadRight’s efforts, raising awareness of tourism’s global impact and encouraging consumers to make more responsible travel choices. Through TreadRight, TTC has pledged to go carbon-neutral by 2030.
Three of the Tollman’s four children are today central to TTC operations, namely Brett, Toni and Vicki, as are Gavin, the son of his late brother Arnold, and Michael, another nephew. Beyond them, grandchildren are now forming part of the fourth generation of Tollmans within the expanding operation. Tollman is also survived by his wife and beloved life partner, Beatrice.
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