Thomas Cook has slashed the number of brochure titles it produces by more than half, from 40 to 18.
The travel group, which printed more than a million brochures in 2018, has produced 280,000 fewer copies so far this year.
The decision has been made as part of its ‘noplaceforplastic’ initiative, which aims to remove 70 million single-use plastic items across the business by the end of the year, as well as bringing “substantial” cost savings, according to a spokesman for the group.
So far it has removed 12 million plastic items from its operations.
As well as cutting the number of brochures, it has switched to using wood fibre – a renewable, primary raw material – for its brochures, and reduced the number of pages and paper density, which has saved 200 tons of paper.
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Thomas Cook said it had focused on producing brochure titles that worked year-round, meaning its Winter Sun brochure is among those to be dropped.
Last month, rival Tui revealed it had reversed its radical decision to scrap all brochures by 2020.
The U-turn followed customer research last year that found brochures were an “important part of the customer journey”.
A spokesman for Thomas Cook said it was “too early to say” if the number of brochures would be cut again next year, saying it would depend on a number of factors including customer behaviour.
Phil Gardner, marketing director at Thomas Cook UK, said: “We’ve always known that, for many of our customers, brochures play a part in how they find inspiration for their next holiday, but there’s no doubt that they are increasingly using their phones, tablets and laptops too.
“We are making sure we have the right balance of brochures in digital and print formats to meet our customers’ needs, reduce our environmental impact and cut complexity and cost across the business.”
Thomas Cook has closed more than 200 shops in the past three years and is in takeover talks with Chinese group Fosun following a series of financial losses.
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