Thomas Cook Relaunches as ‘Covid-ready’ Online Travel Company

Renowned UK brand Thomas Cook will relaunch on Wednesday, September 16, as an online-only travel business following its acquisition by international leisure company Fosun Tourism Group.

Licensed by the CAA and Atol-protected, the new Thomas Cook will launch as a purely online business via a new website www.thomascook.com, offering customers thousands of hotels and flight routes so they can design their own holidays.

Fosun Tourism Group, which also owns Club Med, acquired the brand and online assets of Thomas Cook in November last year, following the company’s collapse.

“Thomas Cook has a proud heritage and after acquiring the brand last year we wanted to quickly return it to its home in the UK,” Fosun Tourism Group Chairman and CEO Jim Qian said.

The new company will retain the brand’s familiar Sunny Heart logo.

“Supporting the growth of the brand in China and its relaunch in the UK is a big step in our plan to turn Thomas Cook into a global success story and a key milestone in the development of the Fosun Tourism Group’s strategy,” Qian added.

Covid-ready

“We have reinvented one of the most recognisable names in British travel,” Thomas Cook UK CEO Alan French said, adding that the new travel company is aware of the short-term challenges posed by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

Referred to as “Covid-ready”, the company will initially sell holidays to destinations on the UK government’s safe travel corridor list.

According to the CEO, customers will not be charged a fee to change their holidays if government rules change.

“We know Brits are keen to travel but feel nervous about safety and any changes to government rules on quarantine. We are only selling destinations on the travel corridor list and all the hotels are flexible,” the company’s CEO said.

At launch, holidays will be available in popular beach destinations and cities in countries including Italy, Greece and Turkey, in line with the current travel corridors. Customers will be able to choose from room-only to all-inclusive options, across three, four and five-star hotels.

Over the coming months, Thomas Cook will continue to invest in its digital offering to adapt to changing holiday needs and lifestyles, including adding new flight partners and other travel options, as well as additional hotels and other types of accommodation. Further destinations will be added when government restrictions are lifted.