Thomas Cook urges consumers to continue to book

Last month, Just Say Please reported on the massive question mark hanging over the financial circumstances of Thomas Cook after the UK holiday giant was forced to approach its banks to secure a further £100 million credit, causing its share prices to plummet.

Recent reports from the troubled high street holiday provider are now uncovering the real cost of Thomas Cook’s mismanagement. A pre-tax loss of £398 million has been announced - a result of a number of significant write-downs of £524 million.  It is thought that Thomas Cook’s current value stands at around the £127 million mark.

The firm is also seriously considering closing around 200 of their high street stores. If the decision was finalised, up to 1,000 jobs could be lost as a result of the closures, although around 20 stores have already been closed and 115 more are considered ‘likely’ to be shut down.

But almost a month on from their second visit to the banks for a bailout loan and a loosening of their borrowing terms, Thomas Cook are insisting that consumers are demonstrating their confidence in the UK holiday provider by continuing to book holidays with them for 2012 and beyond.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Thomas Cook Group’s chief executive Sam Weihagen is adamant that UK bookings are recovering in spite of the initial severe slump in share prices last month. He said: “We have instigated significant management changes and implemented a turnaround plan in the UK to address our areas of underperformance.

"We continue to take action to substantially strengthen the balance sheet and the Board is undertaking a full strategic review. I am confident that these changes will improve profitability and build a stable foundation from which to rebuild shareholder value.”

But despite this confidence in the continued revival of UK bookings, travel experts still advise consumers who book their package holidays with Thomas Cook to comprehensively check and review the terms and conditions of their travel insurance, as not all Thomas Cook holidays will provide adequate cover.