CONFERENCE The Travel Convention 2019: Thomas Cook’s collapse dominates Abta event
‘Cook’s failure creates huge opportunity for the industry’
T
homas Cook’s collapse has created a huge opportunity for other suppliers, according to
industry bosses. Tour operators, hoteliers and
airlines can all benefit from the failure and will seek to plug the gap Tomas Cook’s failure has leſt behind. John Bevan, dnata Travel’s B2B
chief executive for Europe, said nobody in the industry wanted to see the travel giant go but added: “Tere’s an opportunity for everyone. “We’re all in business to make
money and everyone should be looking at where [Cook] went, what destinations they offered, who their customers were and where they booked. “[Cook] had 2.5 million [UK] passengers and they still need a holiday.” Speaking during a panel session hosted by Travel Weekly editor-
We’re all in business
to make money and everyone should be looking at where [Cook] went and how customers booked
in-chief Lucy Huxley, Bevan also revealed dnata operators Gold Medal and Travel 2 would hold bookings for agents affected by the collapse. “Te CAA will do their best to get
refunds but it’s a long process. So if there are any agents who can’t afford to rebook until the money comes through, we will look at holding holidays for them.” He said the trade-only businesses
had never done this before “but the circumstances were exceptional”. Garry Wilson, easyJet Holidays
chief executive, echoed Bevan’s comments. “With the Tomas Cook failure, clearly there is an opportunity,” he said. “Tere are a number of customers who will be looking for holidays that were travelling with Tomas Cook. “We have tried not to allow it to
distract from the timelines we’ve got to launch the business, but clearly there are opportunities in terms of destinations airlines will fly to and where capacity will go. “We’re well placed when we
launch to be able to deal with that.” He added that easyJet had a
“huge” crossover of routes with Tomas Cook and had been approached by many hotels since the collapse. “Tere will be a shiſt in demand
so the airline will be looking if we can
fill some of that demand.” i Interview: Business, page 78
Abta accreditation ‘saves 100-plus businesses’
Abta chairman Alistair Rowland confirmed that the association has accredited more than 100 former Future and Freedom Travel Group members. Speaking at the close of Abta’s Travel Convention, Rowland said this had contributed to the “survival
Alistair Rowland, Abta
of more than 100 independent businesses and many hundreds of jobs.” He described the funds raised for Abta LifeLine
to aid Tomas Cook staff in need as “touching and gratifying”. Rowland said: “Te biggest test for our industry
is how we respond. [Customers] may forgive failure, but they are less forgiving if you don’t deal with the consequences in the right way. “Above all, we need to make sure as an industry
and as individual businesses we put the customer first – recognising that while the failure of a company can’t always be prevented, we can do a huge amount to protect and support customers.” He added: “Enormous progress has been made in the
process of repatriation or providing new arrangements for customers. Now the CAA and Abta are moving to the process of providing refunds.”
12 17 OCTOBER 2019
travelweekly.co.uk
John Bevan, dnata Travel
PICTURES: Arif Gardner
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