News Thomas Cook officially bankrupt (1 Viewer)

[Belgizen]

It has happened peeps.
Yesterday the news reported that Thomas Cook had 24 hours to collect 1.2 billion euros to survive.
Right now, they 226 million euros in order to survive the next weeks.

Thomas Cook (the founder) has shaped the touristic world from the very first organized travel to travel coupons.
It's safe to say that the tourism world has lost a great touoperator (you will be missed RIP)

If you or any family are on holidays via Thomas Cook or their sub-brands: no worries cuz they need to bring everyone home who has booked via their tour operators OR give you your money back if you didn't depart yet
(so if you only booked a flight via their website, sorry hun)
However, there are reports that Tunesia is trying to keep tourists there and let them pay 2000 euros in order to depart.

Let's just hope that this doesn't cause a domino-effect.
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[yeji]

oh damn. this defently is a big thing

 

[Belgizen]

I was actually considering to work for one of their sub-brands but guess that's not going to happen

 

[Belgizen]

oh damn. this defently is a big thing

Yesss
Shows how risky it is to work in the tourism sector
but on the other side: win for TUI cuz they are the biggest TO right now in Belgium, Thomas Cook was their biggest competitor
Also, if TUI decides to bring the tourists home, those people might become new clients

 

[Belgizen]

FYI, Thomas Cook was what we call a "generalist": to every place in the world by plane, car etc.
Research has shown that the future is more specialized: people want expertise nowadays. Sustainable tour operators do very well lately.

 

[Belgizen]

Approximately 20 000 jobs are on the line

 

[Darkseid]

My mom and her friend JUST completed a Thomas Cook tour to England and Scotland in May
Narrow escape, damn.

 

[Administrator2]

Wait a sec, why are they bankrupt?

 

[Belgizen]

Wait a sec, why are they bankrupt?

Cuz they didn't bring in enough money on time
It's only the English part of Thomas Cook so other TC's in other countries should be fine, however it's possible these close overtime

basically, they still have their airlines there (TC Airlines Belgium got closed in 2008 or something cuz it was too much of a risk and they had a lot of loss at the end of the years, they now partner with Brussels Airlines) which is a risky business cuz you need to have 90% of the seats filled in order to regain their expenses. They only have revenue from business and first class seats, someone from Emirates told me. TC flies to the touristic hotspots, which isn't the same as the business hotspots.

Furthermore, after the summer, they restart their year (November or around that time). That's when they go and negotiate about contracts and buy their beds (rooms) and/or seats on a plane. So basically, a tour operator makes a lot of debts all at once after they estimated which destination, hotel etc. will do well (yes tourism is a guessing game as trends change and your whole destination plans could be ruined when there's a conflict or a terrorist attack). That's why early-booking is important for them: it's money that they have fast and at the full price (last minutes = less money, less revenue for them). It's possible they made a huge mistake during their forecast pax planning (the estimation thing)

 

[blueberries]

Has been all over news here, mostly for their sub-brand Träjeborg and cause plp are being stuck on their package holidays waiting to get flights home. I didn't rly use Träjeborg, i usually don't book package trips but rather book everything myself so not big loss for me.

 

[Yoohyeon]

Yeah, it's true!