Chinelo Obogo
A dedicated website for Britain’s largest and oldest airline and travel agency, Thomas Cook, shows that tourists in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia have been affected by the collapse of the 178-year-old company.
The company collapsed after last-minute negotiations aimed at saving the holiday firm failed. A Wikipedia page on the company’s resorts also indicates that several of the group’s hotel chains operate in Africa: Sentido Hotels, ReunConnect Resorts and Smartline Hotels are affected. The collapse of the company leaves 150,000 holidaymakers stranded abroad and puts over 20,000 jobs at risk worldwide, including 9,000 in the UK.
It is the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority’s job to bring the stranded travelers home in what some are calling the largest peacetime repatriation in UK history.
In a statement on its website, Thomas Cook group, including the UK tour operator and airline, said it had ceased trading with immediate effect and all bookings, including flights and holidays had now been cancelled.
In a statement, Peter Fankhauser, Thomas Cook’s chief executive, said the firm’s collapse was a matter of profound regret. “Despite huge efforts over a number of months and further intense negotiations in recent days, we have not been able to secure a deal to save our business. It has been my privilege to lead Thomas Cook. It is deeply distressing to me that it has not been possible to save one of the most-loved brands in travel,” Fankhauser said.
Thomas Cook has blamed a series of issues for its problems including political unrest in holiday destinations such as Turkey, last summer’s prolonged heatwave and customers delaying booking holidays because of Brexit. But the firm has also faced fierce competition from online travel agents and low-cost airlines. In addition, many holidaymakers are putting together their own holidays and not using travel agents