Articles tagged “thomas cook”

Even though Thomas Cook Group is no longer around, parts of the company live on. The Nordic business was pretty profitable, crucially has strong local brands, and isn't weighed down by an extensive store network. It's easy to see how it can be a success in the future.

It was the appearance everyone was waiting for. The two former Thomas Cook CEOs had very, very different ideas about how to run a travel company. The problem is that the business is no longer around, meaning they are both somewhat tarnished by failure.

Inquiries like these are often pretty brutal on company executives. Former CEO Peter Fankhauser shoulders a lot of responsibility for what went down at Thomas Cook, but he's not the only one at fault. The actions of his predecessors, as well as the UK government itself, are likely to also come under scrutiny.

Since Saudi Arabia introduced a new tourist visa on Sept. 28, the focus has been on what it means for non-Muslim leisure travelers. But the new visa holds a bigger significance for the huge Muslim travel market in Asia and elsewhere.

Given the state of the traditional retail industry, on the surface this appears to be a risky deal. But Hays Travel is a profitable, growing business and will probably have secured the assets at a knockdown price. The company knows better than most how to make shops work.

Package holidays are changing and under pressure, but in markets such as the UK, Germany, China, and Canada, these offline options still have their place. Failure to adapt was a contributing factor in Thomas Cook's demise, but there were a whole bunch of other things going on as well.

Each airline failure, of course, includes a number of problems related to the specific business. In Europe, at least at the moment, many of the smaller players that found they could once eke out a living on the edge of the market are no longer able to do so.

Thomas Cook's collapse was a disaster played out in slow motion. An ill-fated acquisition spree, a bloated retail footprint, and a commoditized product left it unable to deal with changes in consumer behavior and economic shocks.

Some travel companies — Ebix among others — are rumored to be considering taking over all of the cash-strapped Cox & Kings.

Thomas Cook Group may have caved in, but in China and India, the companies that bear the name are profitable. Why?