It is a shocking day for the travel and tourism industry. The 178-year-old travel company Thomas Cook UK collapses, leaving over 1.5 lakh Britishers stranded abroad. British company Thomas Cook UK failed to secure rescue funding and travel bookings of more than 600,000 holidaymakers were cancelled this Monday. The 1.5 lakh Britishers who are stranded abroad will be repatriated later during the day, making this the largest repatriation in Britain’s peacetime history. But officials have warned that delays would be inevitable.
What’s More?
Thomas Cook UK a reputed British travel company began its operations in 1841. From a one-day train expedition in England to global operations in 16 countries, it has been struggling over the past few years. The travel company raised over 900 million pounds ($1.12 billion) and also received money from Chinese shareholder Fosun. Yet the company stated on Friday, that were might go bust and they needed 200 million pounds ($250 million) to be salvaged. But unfortunately, the popular British travel company collapsed. As a result four of its airlines will be grounded, 21,000 employees in 16 countries including 9000 in the UK will lose their employment. Thomas Cook UK had early blamed Brexit for its slowdown in bookings and the reason for their crushing debt burden.
Thomas Cook’s CEO Peter Fankhauser remorsely stated on Thomas Cook’s collapse: “This marks a deeply sad day for the company which pioneered package holidays and made travel possible for millions of people around the world. I would like to apologize to our millions of customers, and thousands of employees.”
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Thomas Cook’s Repatriation
Apart from this tragedy, around 1 million future vacationers will find their upcoming holiday bookings cancelled. But they will be receiving refunds courtesy the British government’s travel insurance program. Thomas Cook UK collapse was inevitable. As the company had already reported a debt burden of 1.25 billion pounds in the month of May itself. The political uncertainty regarding Brexit at the end of October had badly affected the summer holiday travel, leading to many people preferring to stay at home. The increased fuel and hotel costs also made things difficult for Thomas Cook UK. Well, we hope Thomas Cook’s largest repatriation in Britain’s peacetime history goes smoothly and the interests of stranded British travellers reach safely.
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