Most of you have probably heard in the news the sad news of Britains Oldest travel agent, Thomas Cook going bust.
This was my first Job in travel and I worked there personally for 6 years. Without Thomas Cook I wouldn’t be where I am today. I personally owe them a lot.
When you work in travel you tend to stay there for a long time. It isnt about the money. It is about the love of holidays. I still have friends who have been with Thomas Cook for over 10 years and some over 20 years. It is them people I feel sorry for.
I have heard reports in the paper that the reason for them going bust was that more people are booking online etc. This is partly true, however companies like Tui and Barhead travel seem to be going strength to strength. I think it must be in the way the company was run. I have also seen reports with the big bosses receiving performance bonuses of 40 million plus. Thomas Cook has not been performing well in years so dont see how they are getting these bonuses.
In my lifetime I have seen the demise of Toys R us and woolworth, However this has got to be the biggest company yet, at least affecting the most amount of people.
If you are a customer looking at booking a holiday what you need to take from this is to make sure the company has an Atol License for flights and is protected by Abta. This was if anything were to happen to your holiday you will be protected. You will probably still lose your holiday however you will be able to claim your money back.
I would like to hear from you guys on this one. What are your thoughts on this? You know what I have a funny feeling that we haven’t seen then end of Thomas Cook.