British travel firm Thomas Cook collapses, stranding hundreds of thousands

[mikebike]

On 9/23/2019 at 3:27 PM, ballpoint said:

But they couldn't afford a whole waterfall, so came up with some sort of sharing arrangement with their neighbour.

Yeah, but we got the good half!! Theirs is just a rock pile!!????????

[mikebike]

On 9/23/2019 at 4:49 PM, lust said:

But I also don’t use travel packages, and this place sounds like I’d find it in the back of a Sears store.

Ah... so you HAVE heard of them. Back of Sears is EXACTLY where they were in the 80s and 90s... ????

[SheungWan]

To me it's an absolute mystery how TC executives have failed to pick up the signals and trends from the real world. It's as if the world's largest provider of VHS movies and video game rental services would operate with 800 stores in the UK the year 2019 - and then blame Brexit for going bust.
 
You can't make this up.

Sometimes things only look obvious in retrospect and there is a long history of UK firms who thought they could ride out negative trends. Whether this one is primarily bad/complacent management or dishonest stuff in the final years will come out. In the end TC could not renegotiate their debt pile (even with low interest rates) as they couldn't show sufficient income stream to cover it. Lots of fixed assets weighing. Probably should have sold them off years ago, but the FT may conclude that in the end there was nothing much TC could have done to have avoided what eventually happened. The side story is whether management actually knew what was happening and decided to fill their boots in the time remaining.

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[SheungWan]

Thomas Cook may have folded, but Thomson Holidays lives in as TUI UK. Like the UK car industry, some bit of the UK travel industry has survived after being taken over by a German company. In a global economy this shouldn't bother people, in fact it is a positive, but this is not the sort of thing the Nationalists in the Brexit debate have in mind. They think British industry is going to rise from the ashes as a result of going solo. Daft.

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[alan grice]

Thomas Cook may have folded, but Thomson Holidays lives in as TUI UK. Like the UK car industry, some bit of the UK travel industry has survived after being taken over by a German company. In a global economy this shouldn't bother people, in fact it is a positive, but this is not the sort of thing the Nationalists in the Brexit debate have in mind. They think British industry is going to rise from the ashes as a result of going solo. Daft.

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The CEO was Swiss.!.


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[SheungWan]

42 minutes ago, SheungWan said:

Thomas Cook may have folded, but Thomson Holidays lives in as TUI UK. Like the UK car industry, some bit of the UK travel industry has survived after being taken over by a German company. In a global economy this shouldn't bother people, in fact it is a positive, but this is not the sort of thing the Nationalists in the Brexit debate have in mind. They think British industry is going to rise from the ashes as a result of going solo. Daft.

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31 minutes ago, alan grice said:

The CEO was Swiss.!.


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Thanks. I certainly didn't pick that up. One question is whether the CEO represented anything other than himself and what he brought to the management table on his appointment in 2014. It doesn't appear a lot in terms of "Swiss" efficiency.

[sanemax]

12 hours ago, SheungWan said:

Thomas Cook may have folded, but Thomson Holidays lives in as TUI UK. Like the UK car industry, some bit of the UK travel industry has survived after being taken over by a German company. In a global economy this shouldn't bother people, in fact it is a positive, but this is not the sort of thing the Nationalists in the Brexit debate have in mind. They think British industry is going to rise from the ashes as a result of going solo. Daft.

p
 

Thomas Cook and TUI (Thomson) are two different companies, they are rivals .

   They have no connection (apart from both their names begin with the four same letters)

   Thomson , Thomas Cook , sound similar, but two different companies 

[kingdong]

On 9/23/2019 at 4:03 AM, Basil B said:

Old news...

Since Friday they have been trying to get the government to bail them out to the tune of £200M, hotels have been turfing guests out of their rooms or even holding them hostage until the pay for their rooms. 

 

Probably with all assets leased or mortgaged TC has nothing left as security against any loans, thankfully our government did not bail out TC, wise move as all they would be doing would be kicking this problem into touch, package tours are history.

 

Unfortunately the package tour companies pay for rooms a long time after the guests vacate them so hotels may be owed a lot of money and just taken a big hit on future bookings, so understandably hotel owners will try to get guests to pay again.

 

Down side of this will be hotel owners trying to get tour companies to pay up front or at least reduce the waiting time for payment which will put pressure on other tour operators.

 

And Brexit will have been a very heavy straw on the camels back...

So it was all brexits fault?how do you work that one out?

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, kingdong said:

So it was all brexits fault?how do you work that one out?

Please solve your comprehension issues.

[tomacht8]

1 hour ago, kingdong said:

So it was all brexits fault?how do you work that one out?

He did not said all.

Or do you not understand the metaphor with the camel?

 

In terms of content, apart from other effects, such as outdated product range, poor equity capitalization, bad marketing, management errors, I see the following Brexit influences:

 

The general uncertainty:

- Fewer people do not, or make a shorter vacation.

- Psychological anxiety saving

- Very weak english pound leads to increased holidays on the doorstep.

- And for TC to higher room purchasing costs, higher kerosene prices and higher costs for on-site staff.

 

All this together led to the company's bankruptcy.

 

 

[baboon]

8 hours ago, Forethat said:

To me it's an absolute mystery how TC executives have failed to pick up the signals and trends from the real world. It's as if the world's largest provider of VHS movies and video game rental services would operate with 800 stores in the UK the year 2019 - and then blame Brexit for going bust.

 

You can't make this up.

Let us all forget our differences and sympathise with those workers who have suddenly lost their jobs. They have bills to pay. Families to support. This is bloody dreadful for them.

[stevenl]

10 hours ago, tomacht8 said:

He did not said all.

Or do you not understand the metaphor with the camel?

 

In terms of content, apart from other effects, such as outdated product range, poor equity capitalization, bad marketing, management errors, I see the following Brexit influences:

 

The general uncertainty:

- Fewer people do not, or make a shorter vacation.

- Psychological anxiety saving

- Very weak english pound leads to increased holidays on the doorstep.

- And for TC to higher room purchasing costs, higher kerosene prices and higher costs for on-site staff.

 

All this together led to the company's bankruptcy.

 

 

Plus postponed holiday plans due to uncertainty.

[overherebc]

11 hours ago, tomacht8 said:

He did not said all.

Or do you not understand the metaphor with the camel?

 

In terms of content, apart from other effects, such as outdated product range, poor equity capitalization, bad marketing, management errors, I see the following Brexit influences:

 

The general uncertainty:

- Fewer people do not, or make a shorter vacation.

- Psychological anxiety saving

- Very weak english pound leads to increased holidays on the doorstep.

- And for TC to higher room purchasing costs, higher kerosene prices and higher costs for on-site staff.

 

All this together led to the company's bankruptcy.

 

 

And not only the english pound but mainly the british pound has it's problems.

[Forethat]

7 hours ago, stevenl said:

Plus postponed holiday plans due to uncertainty.

If the stats are correct it was predominantly Germans who postponed their holiday plans.