The September 23 collapse of legendary British travel company Thomas Cook forced the United Kingdom government to launch repatriation efforts for the reported 155,000 tourists affected. In August the company had secured a £900 million deal led by Chinese firm Fosun, but faced closure unless it could secure additional funding. A request of a £150 million bailout from the UK government fell flat. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said to have delivered what the airline wanted would have created “a moral hazard” by setting a precedent for other companies to ask for the same.
In a press statement, Peter Framkhauser, Thomas Cook’s CEO, said: “This marks a deeply sad day for the company which pioneered package holidays and made travel possible for millions of people around the world.”
Thomas Cook’s collapse has implications for Saint Lucia’s tourism industry. As Tourism Minister Dominic Fedee said in parliament on Tuesday, Thomas Cook was one of the companies government had hoped would increase airlift to the island come Virgin Atlantic’s planned pull-out in June 2020.
He revealed that while in England to attend the 2019 UK Showcase, he had met with representatives of Thomas Cook, British Airways and Thomson who had “indicated significant interest in advancing capacity. We anticipate that based on the meetings we will see in the region of 500 to 750 extra seats coming in to Saint Lucia on a weekly basis from the UK market. Suffice it to say, I feel extremely vindicated and justified in the decision made as it relates to subsidies demanded by Virgin Atlantic.”
The airline had demanded a $20 million subsidy over a 3-year term to fly to Saint Lucia. Almost echoing Boris Johnson, both Prime Minister Allen Chastanet and Tourism Minister Fedee have argued that granting Virgin Atlantic the demanded subsidy would open the door for others to make similar demands on the government.
Fedee has also said: “To be quite frank, I do not sense any anxiety on the part of the private sector and I believe that is because the impact of Thomas Cook and the number of passengers they bring to our shores is relatively small.” Meanwhile the minister is awaiting the final outcome of discussions with British Airways and Thomson, hopefully “before the end of this year”.
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