NEWS TEA FOR TWO AT TIPTO:


Palladium Hotel Group and CroisiEurope have joined Tipto, taking the supplier marketing organisation’s number of members to 22. The two suppliers were introduced at the Annual Tipto Afternoon Tea, held last week at the Hotel Café Royal in London (pictured). Palladium Hotel Group offers luxury properties worldwide and aims to use Tipto to grow its trade sales. Joanne Peters, senior business development manager for the UK and Ireland, said joining Tipto “will allow us to significantly grow our trade relationships”. CroisiEurope’s UK sales director, John Fair, said: “Tipto’s style of training and networking will be the key to us growing agent relationships.”


Fosun signs ex-Cook execs to revive brand as an OTA


Lucy Huxley


Chinese giant Fosun has recruited a number of former Thomas Cook executives as it prepares to relaunch the brand as a global online travel agency to capitalise on summer 2020 bookings. The former Thomas


STORY TOP


Cook shareholder and fourth-largest company in China is understood to be in early discussions with suppliers and hoteliers as it prepares to apply to the CAA for an Atol licence. Travel Weekly believes 15 people


are employed in the new venture, including former Thomas Cook group strategy and technology director Alan French as chief executive; former head of sales,


travelweekly.co.uk


e-commerce and marketing Phil Gardner as chief commercial officer; and former finance executive Raj Sharma as chief financial officer. It is also understood that initial conversations about the OTA joining Abta have taken place. Fosun Tourism Group,


which also owns Club Med, acquired the Thomas Cook brand, domain names, apps and


social media accounts for £11 million in November. The deal included Cook’s hotel brands Casa Cook and Cook’s Club. A digital expert told Travel Weekly:


“Even though the dust hasn’t settled on the collapse of Thomas Cook in the UK, the brand is still extremely favoured elsewhere, particularly in Asia. And even in the UK, the natural


COLLAPSE


THOMAS COOK


traffic the Thomas Cook name will be getting still is massive. It’s cheaper to redesign, rebuild and redress a brand as big as Thomas Cook than start from scratch.” However, the new Thomas Cook


OTA is expected to operate like a digital start-up that ramps up over time. One well-placed commentator said: “Fosun has big ambitions, opportunity and money, but the team will have to create milestones and deliver on them to unlock it. “They will have to earn and justify


the investment – but, if they do, I can see [staff] growing rapidly to 50, then to 80-100. This is not going to be a


small venture. Fosun has big plans and is keen to create synergies across its various leisure brands under the hero brand of Thomas Cook.” Last week, Fosun appointed Guo


Qing as co-president and president of its tourism destination development and operation management centre. The group has created a “lifestyle


platform company”, a division of which is Thomas Cook Tourism (UK), a company it registered in September. An industry expert said: “There’s


no room in the UK market for another tour operator – Tui and Jet2holidays are filling the gap. There is probably room for another On the Beach and Loveholidays...another direct-to-consumer online retailer.” A launch date for the Thomas


Cook OTA has yet to be confirmed. 23 JANUARY 2020 5


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