UK tour operator – Thomas Cook – collapsed on Sunday night stranding hundreds of thousands of travelers. The British airline which has been in operation for more than a century, made an application to the High Court requesting the liquidation of the company due to financial troubles.
An order was granted to the company to appoint the official receiver as the liquidator of the company.
The collapse of the British tour operators has resulted in ripple effects in Asia as Fosun tourism, a Chinese firm had its shares drop by more than 5% during the morning trade in Hong Kong. Fosun Tourism’s parent company Fosun International was founded by Guo GuangChang who is Thomas Cook’s largest stakeholder according to a data source in Refinitiv.
Fosun International expressed its disappointment in Thomas Cook collapse as they were not able to come up with a reasonable solution for their financial troubles.
The UK government has requested for a repatriation program from September 23rd to October 6th which would return Thomas Cook’s customers back to the UK.
Peter Fankhouser Thomas Cook’s Chief Executive Officer has made an apology to the customers, employees and partners for the collapse. The collapse of Thomas Cook Group comes after a difficult year for the company. Since May 2018, Thomas Cook share price has dropped by 96% in the middle of Brexit uncertainities and the stiff competition in the tourism sector.
