Thomas Cook reveals business impact of swine flu

According to a report issued by travel company Thomas Cook on Thursday, it has seen an impact of nearly £12.6 million on business due to the swine flu outbreak – so far.

The travel giant said that following advice to avoid travel to Mexico, trip cancellations – mainly in Germany and the UK – led to costs “more significant than we anticipated.”

Thomas Cook noted that it has more long-haul trips left unsold now than it did at this time last year to the normally-popular Mexican resort of Cancun.

TUI Travel, the main rival to Thomson Holidays, revealed on Wednesday that the flu outbreak in May had cost the company £7 million.

Even with the flu outbreak and this year’s trend toward later bookings, Thomas Cook has indicated that it is on track to meet expectations for the full-year on “robust” summer trading.

Manny Fontenla-Novoa, the company’s chief executive, noted: “Looking beyond the current year we are preparing for continued tough market conditions.”

Average holiday selling prices in the UK for this summer are eight per cent ahead of 2008, although there has been an 11 per cent decline in bookings, in line with the capacity reductions introduced by Thomas Cook.

Thanks to www.independent.co.uk for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.