Thomas Cook Gives Greek Tourism Market A Scare

Greece’s tourism industry recently expressed concerns in regards to the tremendous impact the near-bankruptcy of British tour operator Thomas Cook Group would have had on the Greek tourism market.

Thomas Cook is Europe’s second-largest tour operator and sends more than one million tourists to Greece a year.

On 22 November 2011 the tour operator said it was in “discussions with its principal lending banks” and delayed the announcement of its full-year results.

The company’s shares in the London Stock Exchange automatically dropped 75 percent that day as investors started to pull out in fear of immediate bankruptcy.

According to international press reports, the tour operator, which faced debts of some one billion pounds, began negotiations with creditor banks in order to avoid bankruptcy.

As a result of the negotiations, the company’s lenders agreed to provide a 200 million-pound ($309 million) loan and give time to reorganize its business.