Change, debt, Brexit sank tour company

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September 23, 2019 - 9:48 AM

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — British tour operator Thomas Cook fell victim to multiple setbacks including shifting travel habits, the rise of online booking sites, the sinking pound and even unusually hot weather that encouraged fewer Northern Europeans to travel.

Specific problems of its own, like a $2 billion debt pile, made it less able to react to change.

It all added up to a perfect storm that led the 178-year-old company to cease operations early today, stranding hundreds of thousands of travelers.

Analysts said Thomas Cook, which rode a package holiday boom that started in the mid-1980s, was too slow to react as consumers moved away from buying trips at bricks-and-mortar stores.

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