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Thomas Cook releases trading update
Thomas Cook claimed it was “on the right course” as it published its trading update for the first nine months of its financial year.
But its performance was stronger in Germany than it was in the UK.
In Germany, it increased the number of transported passengers by 2.6% to 2.988 million, while in the UK it fell 0.7% to 1.984 million.
“We have been able to make up this figure more recently, and a restructuring program in the third quarter enabled us to reduce costs by a further €29 million. Thomas Cook UK remains on target to meet its annual budget,” said the statement.
Director of finance Ludger Heuberg added: “Development would have been even better had it not been for the World Cup, which kept many travellers at home, especially the British; avian flu, kerosene surcharges and terrorist attacks.”
Booking figures in Germany after three quarters are just under 8% up on last year, better than the overall market, which is up only 3%.
But in the UK, bookings are over 4% down on last year, despite being “much better than the market”, said the update.
Last month, Travelmole exclusively reported that an internal memo from Thomas Cook said trading conditions in the industry are at their worst level for 15 years and the operator still has 300,000 holidays left to sell (see story August 11).
Under its future growth programme, called MOVE, Thomas Cook plans to increase the number of tied sales outlets from 800 to 1900.
“The e-commerce business will also be developed. At the centre is the development of the website www.thomascook.de to make it a fully-fledged online travel agency that not only offers the group’s own products, but practically every single relevant travel brand in Germany.
“By mid-2007 www.thomascook.com will be a European online travel agency. We are currently working on an international IT production platform as part of a production offensive, the aim of which is to make production sequences less expensive and more flexible. In the second half of 2007, the new platform will be tested as a pilot on the British market.”
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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