Fosun Tourism to relaunch Thomas Cook in the UK market soon to get a head start in travel recovery

Chinese hospitality group to follow up in the UK market after unveiling its online booking platform at home amid a rebound in domestic tourism

Firm looking for signs of stability or improvement in Covid-19 situation to introduce the new Thomas Cook business model for European market

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Pedestrians are pictured walking past a branch of a Thomas Cook travel agent's shop in London in September 2019 before it went into administration. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:27pm, 8 Sep 2020Updated: 11:01pm, 8 Sep 2020

Fosun Tourism is planning to give Thomas Cook’s brand a new lease of life in the global travel market after buying its intellectual property out of UK bankruptcy last year.

The Shanghai-based hospitality group wants to position for a recovery in travel demand by unveiling an online travel booking platform soon, according to a person familiar with its plan. It aims to tap UK travellers as the Covid-19 cases subside.

Fosun is waiting for some stability in the UK government rules on travel restriction, according to people familiar with the plan, who declined to be identified because the plan has not been finalised. If there is no big change to the current situation, the platform should be able to go online quite quickly within this month, they added.

Controlled by mainland Chinese tycoon Guo Guangchang, the Hong Kong-listed group is banking on the revival of travel after some of its biggest overseas assets suffered a meltdown from the Covid-19 crisis. Fosun International, which controls Fosun Tourism, ceded control of Cirque du Soleil after the Canadian firm went bankrupt, while its Club Med business slumped under travel bans.

Chairman Qian Jiannong (left) and vice-chairman Henri Giscard d'Estaing seen during its earnings announcement in August 2019. Photo: Jonathan Wong

The 178-year old Thomas Cook Group Plc group folded in September after a £750 million (US$977 million) recapitalisation plan cobbled in July fell through. Instead, Fosun Tourism paid £11 million in November for its trademark and the Casa Cook and Cook’s Club hotel brands from the administrators.

Fosun Tourism is hoping that the impending relaunch in the UK can lure back travellers, particularly those in Europe who are familiar with its history. The online booking platform was launched in China on July 18 as domestic tourism rebounded, while the Club Med business has gradually been reopened since last month.

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