Thomas Cook group chief executive Sam Weihagen has defended the brand after leaked figures revealed a 33% fall in bookings since the New Year.
Weihagen insisted that the fall in bookings was due to a reduction in the number of summer package holidays for sale.
He added that the fall in bookings was close to what the company had expected.
"We are a much-loved brand. We are putting our best foot forward. It’s a shame to see that others are trying to make things more difficult," Weihagen told the Sun newspaper.
"We reduced the number of holidays we had to sell this year. When you take that into consideration we are very close to where we expected to be and certainly in line with last year."
Thomas Cook shares dropped five per cent to 14.25 yesterday but were back up 1.3% today at 14.44.
