Thomas Cook Is Cautiously Optimistic About its China Business
Photo Credit: Thomas Cook Group has seen positive results from China so far but doesn't plan to abandon its core European business. Pictured is Thomas Cook Group CEO Peter Fankhauser at the group's Shanghai office. Thomas Cook Group
Skift Take
Thomas Cook has hit the ground running in China but it's not running away from its core business in Europe. The group doesn't want to be too aggressive in China before its made more of a name for itself in the market and sees how consumers respond.
Less than a year after kicking off operations in China, European tour operator Thomas Cook Group is looking to a key partnership, sports tourism, and underserved travelers as it tries to avoid the missteps that many other Western travel brands made in the country.
The group, headquartered in the UK, is going after both the Chinese outbound market, with its 130 million travelers, and inbound travelers in a variety of ways.
In an interview with Skift at the World Travel & Tourism Council’s Global Summit in Bangkok last month, CEO Peter Fankhauser detailed those approaches and explained why its Chinese business is becoming more relevant to the group's story.
To help it succeed, Thomas Cook China is relying on partnerships with European and Chinese brands and sports teams, for example.
The company is targeting many Chinese travelers' love of European football to grow its outbound Chinese business, Fankhauser said. Thomas Cook has partnered with European football teams s
