Travel operator Thomas Cook today warned of a £39 million earnings hit from the combined impact of the terrorist atrocity in Tunisia, the Greek debt crisis and the weakening of the euro.
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Shares in the London-listed group, down 13 percent since June 26 when a gunman killed 38 mainly British holidaymakers in a Tunisian beach massacre claimed by Islamic State militants, recovered from early losses to be marginally up by mid-morning.
“Customers were afraid, because of media reports, that there would not be food in the hotels… our local teams have worked diligently to ensure that the economic issues do not disrupt our customers” holidays.
Thomas Cook expects its annual profits to take a £25m hit from the terror attack in Tunisia last month and travellers’ fears around trips to Greece.
Fankhauser, CEO since November, is seeking to push through a new round of restructuring after predecessor Harriet Green was credited with rescuing the 175-year-old company by slashing costs following a request for emergency funding in 2011.
Both of those events are understandably putting people off holidaying in the 2 countries, which are usually top tourist destinations for Thomas Cook.
The group sells 600-700,000 holidays to the North African country every year but has seen this wiped out as the Foreign Office and other governments in Europe officially advised against travelling there.
The firmwarned the financial impact could also be felt in next year’s results.
In Greece, customer demand declined during the period while it was uncertain whether Greece would remain in the euro zone.
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Some 78 per cent of holidays for summer 2015 have been sold, the same as a year ago, and bookings continued to improve into the summer.
