Thomas Cook, the 178-year-old patriarch of the travel industry that collapsed into bankruptcy last year is back, but only in name. Fosun, the Chinese company that attempted a rescue and then bought the company’s name and trademarks is using them for a new online-only travel agency.
The launch, during a period when tourism and travel are at historic low points, has raised some eyebrows—perhaps not least among the 150,000 customers who were stranded abroad when the old company collapsed. The British government organized an airlift to get them home. The CEO of the new company says the company is taking the “long view…We are launching now clearly aware of the short-term challenges posed by the pandemic.“
The company’s plan for now is to be a ‘Covid-ready’ website, selling holidays only to beach resorts and cities that are on the UK government’s current ‘travel corridor’ list to avoid quarantine issues. Alan French, the CEO said that “We are only selling destinations on the travel corridor list and all the hotels are flexible. We won’t charge customers a fee to change their holidays if government rules change.”
