Thomas Cook Upsets European Hoteliers

The Hellenic Chamber of Hotels has joined forces with hotel associations in Europe in a fight against UK-based holiday company Thomas Cook as it has imposed a unilateral five percent cut on its August and September accommodation invoices for European hotels.

Greek and foreign press articles said last month that hoteliers who provided accommodation to Thomas Cook’s UK customers would receive five percent less than the agreed room price.

According to a joint statement, signed by the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels and hotel associations in Italy, Malta, Spain and Portugal, Thomas Cook made the price cuts without any “agreement with any of the hotels it is affiliated with.”

Hotel associations across Europe agreed that such a practice violated agreed and signed contracts and would have negative consequences for all hotel accommodations, regardless of size and category.

The chamber said it would result to legal action on a national and European level to determine whether Thomas Cook is abusing its dominant position in accordance with national or European law.

According to reports, Thomas Cook said the decision was taken to make up for lost earnings following a difficult year in the tourism industry.