The travel activities of "La Compagnie des Wagons-Lits" began in 1872, in the wake of the great luxury trains. A Belgian entrepreneur, George Nagelmackers, opened travel offices along the major train lines in order to sell tickets and make hotel reservations.

By 1900, there were 160 travel offices in Europe and North Africa. the first Swiss office opened in 1897, more than 100 years ago.

Over the years, Nagelmacker’s "Wagons-Lits" company expanded its mission of serving travellers to become Wagonlit Travel, Europe’s largest travel management company.

In 1991, "La Compagnie des Wagons-Lits" was acquired by the French company Accor. In 1994, Accor and Carlson Companies, Inc., two world leaders in travel and tourism, agreed to combine their respective travel networks, turning them into one of the world’s largest business travel management companies: Carlson Wagonlit Travel.

With a worldwide network, today Carlson Wagonlit Travel is one of the global leaders in its field. The trade name is present in 141 countries. Sales volume amounts to over 12 billion US $.