Troubled times for Thomas Cook

Sad this week to see the possibility of Thomas Cook hitting tough times. It was rumored earlier this year that they were possibly in trouble, however, it had all gone quiet for a while. It is speculated they have driven up to £1.6bn in debt over the last few years and even closing 100 loss-making branches in 2017/18 has not made enough impact to claw back their significant losses.

They had hoped that investments from the Banks and a Chinese consortium would help get them back on their feet however this deal does not appear to have happened.

Should everything hit the fan this weekend which has been rumored it will make a significant impact in the Travel Market with the closure of 550 High Street Branches, the loss of 22,000 jobs and not to mention leaving 180,000.00 passengers stranded overseas. Should these passengers need to be repatriated this would be the biggest repatriation mission in Brittish History.

I worked for Thomas Cook Overseas for a Season as a Holiday Rep in Greece 2004. I have to say they were a fantastic Company to work for and were so very proud of their Heritage and long-standing reputation as one of the UK’s largest and oldest Travel firms. It will be so sad to see them go if a rescue deal cannot be secured.

Overbooked hotel capacity, bad Management practices, Brexit, and hot UK Summers have all been pinpointed as to the decline of the Business.

For those of you who currently have Holidays or cruises booked through Thomas Cook be sure to keep your eyes on the Headlines over the next week to see if and how your current or future holiday plans may be affected.