Willy Scharnow Foundation for Tourism

The Willy Scharnow-Stiftung für Touristik (Willy Scharnow Foundation for Tourism) is an independent, non-profit foundation within the German travel and tourism industry, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. It was founded in 1953 by the travel entrepreneur Willy Scharnow (1897–1985), a Bremen-born travel-trade merchant who, with his tour operator Scharnow-Reisen, was one of the far-sighted co-founders of TUI alongside Touropa, Hummel and Dr. Tigges. Scharnow created the foundation to bring the rapidly growing post-war travel industry's young employees closer to countries and peoples, to qualify them as travel advisers and sellers, and thereby to improve their career prospects. The foundation describes itself as the only foundation in the tourism sector that has operated independently and for the public benefit since its beginnings, and it enjoys a high reputation. Its core work has always been study trips with a seminar character, in which getting to know the country and its people from a tourism perspective takes priority over comprehensive sightseeing of tourist 'hardware'. The programme ranges from long-haul trips worldwide through well-known and lesser-known destinations in Europe to an increasingly developed Germany offering, complemented by river and ocean cruises. Beyond study trips, the foundation's work includes seminars, scholarships for internships, financial support for language courses, awards for graduating trainees, and — until 2015 — the Willy Scharnow Prize. Until 2006 it also commissioned research from the Willy Scharnow Institute at the Free University of Berlin, which it had supported; after the master's programme in tourism was discontinued in 2009, the institute was wound up. Instead, until 2018 the foundation supported the preservation and expansion of the world's largest tourism-history collection (the Historisches Archiv zum Tourismus), which had been a department of the former FU institute and moved to the Technical University of Berlin at the end of 2012. Since 2006 the foundation has been involved, together with the Team for International Tourism Communication (TINTKO), in awarding a quality seal for tour guides. Since its founding the foundation has grown continuously. From an initial endowment of 10,000 DM, generous additional contributions — including from the estate of Willy Scharnow's widow, Erika Scharnow, who died in 2002 — had built the foundation capital to around 8.3 million euros by 2020. The foundation remains active, publishing current study trips, press releases and participant reports on its website.

The Willy Scharnow-Stiftung für Touristik owes its existence to the idea and initiative of its founder, Willy Scharnow (1897–1985), a Bremen travel-trade merchant who, with his tour operator Scharnow-Reisen, was one of the far-sighted co-founders of TUI alongside Touropa, Hummel and Dr. Tigges. He called the foundation into life in 1953 to bring the young employees of the rapidly growing post-war travel industry closer to countries and peoples, to qualify them as travel advisers and sellers, and thereby to give them better career development opportunities. As the only foundation in the tourism sector, the Willy Scharnow-Stiftung has operated independently and for the public benefit since its beginnings and enjoys a high reputation. The core of its work has always been study trips with a seminar character, in which getting to know the country and its people from a tourism perspective takes priority over comprehensive sightseeing of tourist 'hardware'. The range of offerings extends from long-haul trips worldwide through well-known and lesser-known destinations in Europe to an increasingly developed Germany offering, which for many travel sellers is still an unknown travel country but, in the rapidly growing trend towards short trips, also offers travel agencies additional sales opportunities. River and ocean cruises round off the programme. Since its founding the foundation has grown continuously. From an initial endowment of 10,000 DM, generous additional contributions — such as from the estate of Willy Scharnow's widow, Erika Scharnow, who died in 2002 — have built a foundation capital of 8.3 million euros. According to the German Wikipedia, the foundation capital was around 8.3 million euros in 2020. The foundation's work includes study trips and seminars, scholarships for internships, financial support for language courses, awards for graduating trainees, and the awarding of the Willy Scharnow Prize (until 2015). Until 2006 the foundation also commissioned research from the Willy Scharnow Institute at the Free University of Berlin, which it supported. After the master's programme in tourism was discontinued in 2009, the institute was wound up. Instead, until 2018 the foundation supported the preservation and expansion of the world's largest tourism-history collection (the Historisches Archiv zum Tourismus), which had been a department of the former FU institute and moved to the Technical University of Berlin at the end of 2012. Since 2006 the foundation has been involved, together with the Team for International Tourism Communication (TINTKO), in awarding a quality seal for tour guides. The foundation is headquartered in Frankfurt am Main and remains active, publishing current study trips, press releases and participant reports on its website. Recent highlights advertised on its homepage include study trips to Canada (Toronto), Mexico (Maya culture on the Yucatán Peninsula) and Tenerife, with dates in 2026 and 2027.

• 2020

  Foundation capital reported at around 8.3 million euros.

• 2018

  Foundation ends its support for the Historisches Archiv zum Tourismus.

• 2015

  Last awarding of the Willy Scharnow Prize.

• 2012

  Historisches Archiv zum Tourismus moves to the Technical University of Berlin.

• 2009

  Master's programme in tourism at FU Berlin discontinued; the Willy Scharnow Institute is wound up.

• 2006

  Foundation ceases commissioning research from the Willy Scharnow Institute at FU Berlin; begins involvement in awarding a tour-guide quality seal with TINTKO.

• 2002

  Death of Willy Scharnow's widow Erika Scharnow, whose estate contributed to the foundation capital.

• 1985

  Death of founder Willy Scharnow.

• 1953

  Foundation established by Willy Scharnow with an initial endowment of 10,000 DM.

The only independent, non-profit foundation of the German tourism industry, focused on intercultural understanding and the education and further training of tourism employees through seminar-style study trips.

• Study trips with seminar character

  Trips for travel-trade professionals focusing on getting to know countries and peoples from a tourism perspective, ranging from long-haul and European destinations to Germany and cruises.

• Seminars

  Training and further-education seminars for tourism employees.

• Internship scholarships

  Scholarships for internship placements.

• Language-course funding

  Financial support for language courses.

• Awards for graduating trainees

  Prizes for graduates of tourism training programmes.

• Willy Scharnow Prize

  Awarded until 2015.

• Tour-guide quality seal

  Awarded together with TINTKO since 2006.

1. 1Willy Scharnow-Stiftung – Startseitewillyscharnowstiftung.de
2. 2Wir über uns – Willy Scharnow-Stiftungwillyscharnowstiftung.de
3. 3Willy Scharnow-Stiftung für Touristik – Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Willy Scharnow-Stiftung für Touristik – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org