Thomas Cook’s new owner has pledged to return the tour operator to its former glory as one of the UK’s biggest package holiday providers before targeting new European markets.
When the operator and travel agency collapsed in 2019 following close to 200 years of operations, it had more than 600,000 customers overseas and an Atol licence for 2.5 million passengers, beaten only by Tui with 5.7 million and Jet2holidays with 3.8 million.
The company was rescued by its largest single share holder at the point of its collapse, the Chinese Fosun Tourism Group which also owns Club Med, which spent £11 million in November 2019 on acquiring Cook’s brand and assets before relaunching it as an online travel agent (OTA).
After months of rumours the Polish traveltech giant the eSky Group was confirmed it was interested in doing a deal which was closed in September 2024 before approval was granted by the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in October.
Now, in an exclusive interview with Hospitality Investor, eSky Group CEO Lukasz Habaj says he is determined to return Thomas Cook to its former position as one of the UK’s travel giants before growing the brand across Europe.
He adds: “It is our ambition to challenge the market and become one of the leading package holidays providers in the UK.
“We want to compete with the biggest players and restore the world's oldest travel brand to its former glory.
“We have a great foundation, as the new Thomas Cook has achieved huge success in a relatively short time: this year it will be a profitable company that, with no additional investments, has gained a pretty good share in the competitive UK market with over £115 million in turnover this year.”
Despite the initial good news, Habaj has a lot of work to do - Thomas Cook has 215,000 Atol authorisations for the upcoming year, considerably less Jet2holidays which is now the UK’s biggest operator with an Atol of 7.04 million, or its old sparring partner Tui with an Atol of 5.85 million
However, the 215,000 figure is double the previous year’s amount and Habaj is positive that this is just the start of its anticipated growth.
He adds: “Beyond being a strong brand with exceptionally high awareness in Western Europe, Thomas Cook's extensive experience building and selling package holidays was crucial to our long-term strategy.
“Through this acquisition, we will move closer to achieving our goal for the coming years — to transition from a predominantly flight platform into a comprehensive online travel agency.”
Habaj says this will be achieved by combining Thomas Cook’s expertise as package holiday provider with its own travel technology and a flight inventory boasting more than 560 airlines.
Despite eSky operating in more than 50 countries, with a significant focus on Central and Eastern European countries, he adds that initial plans for the new acquisition will focus on existing operations in the UK, Holland and Belgium before looking for business further afield.
Habaj says: “For now, we plan to make the most of the opportunity in the UK, given it's a well-established market and the name recognition is so high.
“We plan to focus on these markets in the foreseeable future. However, our mid and long-term plans encompass launching the sale of holidays under the renowned Thomas Cook brand in numerous Western European countries.
“Also, we do not rule out extending Thomas Cook's operations into Central and Eastern Europe.”
In order to achieve this Habaj says the Cook business will need to be fully integrated into eSky’s operations to deliver cost synergies via its technology and external services which will further drive profitability and expansion plans.
He adds: “Our IT resource is one of the biggest in the region, with over 200 developers working on eSky’s technology.
“We have our own search engine, fuelled with machine learning, and comprehensive cloud infrastructure, that allows us to cater for customers in a matter of seconds regardless of whether you want to book a flight, hotel or a packaged holiday.
“Most of our processes are automated, which allowed us to scale into numerous markets without high investments.”
Habaj is also confident that eSky’s many airline partnerships will also help, adding: “Our competitive advantage is based on working with carriers directly, which allows us to offer better rates and also, drive more revenue.
“Technology and the wide flight offer complemented by various ancillary products of ours is what we intend to integrate into Thomas Cook’s business. This will increase margins, and considerably improve profitability.
“Thanks to the scale effect, we will be able to offer both eSky’s and Thomas Cook’s customers better rates on packaged holidays, which are a centrepiece of our long-term strategy.”
Habaj says they will continue to work with both the hotel suppliers and bed banks with which they enjoy strong relationships, adding: “This deal should open up new opportunities for hoteliers to partner with us directly given our increased scale.”
While the new-look Thomas Cook will still offer the European beach holidays that have been the foundation of its success, he adds they will be looking further afield when it comes to featuring and growing new destinations.
Habaj says: “In Thomas Cook’s business, we have seen the long haul segment rise significantly in the past 12 months, especially as families look to head further afield and seek out more value in the peak summer months beyond the classic resorts of the Mediterranean.”
He adds the US is currently the biggest long-haul destination and he is keen to introduce multi-centre trips both there and across the Middle East and Far East.
Habaj says: “That type of holiday is still not readily available online and with our strong airline connections and Thomas Cook’s reputation as a long-standing travel agent, we think we are well-positioned to offer those holidays.”
Providing this is the case, it is good news for Thomas Cook and will hopefully put the brand in a strong position to celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2041, particularly after the hiatus of the last five years.