Skift Take
China is a tiny part of its overall business right now, but Thomas Cook is thinking long term. Whether the company's expansion into China is a success or not will probably come down to the strength of its local opposition, which is deeply entrenched.
European tour operator Thomas Cook is targeting revenue of $133.6 million (£100 million) from its nascent Chinese business in the next few years as it looks to make the country a “sizable part” of its overall business.
Thomas Cook China has taken 20,000 Chinese consumers on vacation since its launch last year, a tiny group compared to its European source markets, but the company believes there is plenty of room to grow; the company aims to serve 200,000 Chinese consumers in the upcoming year.
The business is a joint venture with Chinese conglomerate Fosun, which is a minority shareholder of Thomas Cook. The tour operator uses Fliggy, the travel website owned by Alibaba, and Spring Travel to sell travel products in the market.
“So we said we want the business to be sizable... we need to get to £100 million ($133.6 million) of revenue at least within the next couple of years,” said Thomas Cook’s chief fin
