NEWS
COLLAPSE
THOMAS COOK
If you read the newspapers, you’d be forgiven for thinking Tomas Cook’s failure was brought about
because it had too many shops, when the trend is towards booking travel online. I get frustrated with the constant high street bashing and the general mood that ‘high street equals bad’. While this has been partly true, it also did not help itself with some business decisions. Cook made some poor decisions, even without
0LOHV 0RUJDQ MANAGING DIRECTOR, MILES MORGAN TRAVEL
Cook staff
should hold their heads up high and go for it
the benefits of hindsight. Te Going Places and Co-Operative Travel stores were unnecessary. Tere was duplication in towns when, even then, online sales had growing momentum.
6HOI LQƊLFWHG SUREOHPV Cook’s retail performance suffered because of other factors that were self-inflicted. It built its business on being a travel agent and enjoyed that position during its heyday. Te problems started when Cook changed strategy to focus on internal sales. Staff were told to sell Cook’s own tour operator at all costs; third-party sales were frowned upon and certainly not rewarded. Tis had two big impacts. Cook lost amazing staff who wanted to still be a full-service travel agent, and loyal customers who did not want a Cook holiday every time they entered a shop. Tese factors hit shop profitability hugely. I went
to see the fab Cook staff last week. I’ve seen their passion, but I’ve also seen their shops’ sales – a sorry downhill graph that was not of their making. Te online discounting of their own brand was the final straw for the staff and any chance their shops had. It helped the tour operator versus its online competition, but it killed Cook’s high street shops. Tey couldn’t fill that void with third-party
sales and were just leſt to decline. Teir decision to stop selling Jet2holidays a few years ago was a sign of the path they were taking. Instead of trying to understand why people wanted to buy Jet2holidays and adapting, they simply stopped selling them, hoping the problem would go away. Tis assisted the growth of independent agents and caused more pain for Cook’s great staff on the high street.
)LOOLQJ WKH YRLG Te independent agent is alive and flourishing, filling the void leſt by Cook. Tat has already begun, starting years ago when they, in effect, ‘leſt the high street’ as a full-service travel agent. Yes, online booking growth is there, but the
number of agents on the high street has declined hugely – meaning plenty of opportunity, especially for bold agents. Te online game is also there for high street agents to exploit themselves, certainly at Miles Morgan Travel, as a growing amount of our business comes from online. Te high street is struggling, but travel is one of the bright spots, with savvy agents doing well today. Tey will do well tomorrow, too. Finally, a word for Cook staff. You are proud
people from a once-proud business, your job loss was not down to you and you should always remember that. I was around when International Leisure Group went bust in 1991. Some of the stellar stars of our industry today lost their jobs when that happened and rose to have amazing careers. Opportunities still exist today, so go for it, hold your heads up high – and good luck.
Read more columns by Miles Morgan:
go.travelweekly.co.uk/comment
30
3 OCTOBER 2019
travelweekly.co.uk
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