The British holiday lovers seem to be unaffected by the credit crunch, as they continue to splash out on holidays to locations such as Turkey and Egypt. According to Manny Fontenla-Novoa, chief executive at Thomas Cook, customers are undeterred by the credit crunch and the company is posting good trading for the summer 2008 period. He adds that the oncoming winter and summer 2009 trading climate is already much further ahead than last year.

According to him customers are spending less on home improvement, furniture, clothing and cars, instead saving money to enjoy summer holidays. Fontenla-Novoa adds, the UK customers were cutting back on weekend breaks to Ibiza, Spain and Majorca, and flocking to exotic places such as Egypt and Turkey due to the strong Euro and stable holiday prices at these destinations.

Thomas Cook’s winter booking for five-star holidays is up by 13% and for all-inclusive holidays it is 10% higher than last year, for all destinations. After the acquisition of MyTravel, Thomas Cook reduced its third-line holiday capacity by 7% and would consider a further reduction of 8% if needed.

According to Killik Capital analyst, Jonathan Jackson, steps like capacity downsizing and fuel hedging would enable Thomas Cook to cope with the downturn successfully. Fontenla-Nova claims that Thomas Cook was 92% hedged against crude oil price fluctuations for the current year, probably the best placed among all other companies.

Things to consider:
Come visit Clarion Hotel,Örebro - fits perfectly for weekends as well as your business conference!
beautiful Spa Hotel
last minute crociere
casa vacanza roma
Holiday Rome