Thomas Cook backlash overshadows financial results

Thomas Cook chief executive personally apologised for the deaths of Robert and Christianne Shepherd for the first time this morning as a consumer backlash against the tour operator gathered momentum.

Almost 7,000 people have joined a Facebook page urging others to boycott the tour operator and criticism of the tour operator has been filling up its own Facebook page following the children’s inquest last week.

Today, as the company announced its half-year results showing a £25 million reduction in its winter loss in the UK, CEO Peter Fankhauser admitted it had failed to show compassion to the children’s family.

He said: "I want to say I am deeply sorry about the tragedy."

Fankhauser also admitted ‘there were things we should have done better’ over the past nine years since the children’s deaths while on holiday in Corfu in 2006.

He said he wants to meet with the children’s parents, Neil Shepherd and Sharon Wood ”to see what else we can do to support the family’.

Mrs Wood said after the inquest in her children’s deaths that Thomas Cook’s earlier claim that it had given the family financial and practical support ‘was simply not true’.

Fankhauser has also been criticised on social media for his claim at the inquest that Thomas Cook had nothing to apologise for and today he said he ‘deeply regrettted’ that comment.

"It is clear that as a company we could have done better," he said.

The founder of the Facebook page ‘Boycott Thomas Cook’ appeared on popular BBC and ITV programmes this morning urging others not to book holidays with the firm. Simon Eldritch told the Victoria Derbyshire show on BBC2 that he was ‘disgusted’ by Cook’s behaviour.

The firm was also criticised for giving the full £1.5 million compensation it received from the hotel where the children were poisoned by carbon monoxide fumes to the charity Unicef without consulting their parents.

Fankhauser said that in future the tour operator would do things differently.

This morning, the company revealed that boosted by new product and long-haul sales, its revenue for the first half of the year inched up £37 million to £2,742 millon.

It also announced today that it has agreed, ahead of schedule, a new extended £800 million financing facility, which is £330 million larger than its existing loan, which Fankhauser said would ‘support the Group through the next phase of transformation’.

Part of its strategy is to build 30 new own-brand hotels with Club Med parent, Chinese conglomerate Fosun, which bought 4.8% of Cook for £92 million in March.

The travel giant announced today that the pair were finalising the model for a hotel investment platform to buy hotels, starting with the first few this year.

Fankhauser said: "Overall the Group has made positive progress during the first half. Thanks to the actions we have taken, both profits and like-for-like revenues have grown, and debt has been further reduced.

"We have formed a promising strategic partnership with Fosun, a leading Chinese investment group, under which we are developing further growth opportunities, both within and beyond our traditional European travel markets."

The Group said summer 2016 is 62% sold to date, which is 2% ahead of this time last year, and average selling prices are broadly similar.