Thomas Cook targets parents to support careers in travel

Marketing strategy

Thomas Cook targets parents to support careers in travel

THOMAS Cook has urged parents to promote travel as a career to their teenage children.

Adverts in the Mail on Sunday on September 3 asked parents of would-be applicants to consider the prospects of working for the high-street chain.

The copy goes on to describe the training facilities and opportunities for promotion.

Thomas Cook stressed that it has a range of recruitment activities and does not have a bias towards youth.

Its rock and roll years campaign specifically targeted those who were young in the 1950s.

It also encourages branches to advertise vacancies in the shop window to lure people with retail experience from other high-street outlets. The company needs to recruit around 1,000 people a year due to staff turnover.

Going Places is taking on 500 school-leavers in a huge national campaign.

Managing director Terry Fisher denied it was cutting costs, arguing that the company was catching up with other travel agencies in tapping the young labour market.

Travel firms are increasingly using modern apprenticeships.

Thomas Cook is taking on around 500 under the scheme, and Travel Choice, the retail arm of First Choice, has 90 school-leavers, aged 16-18, who have started modern apprenticeships as trainee travel consultants.

Read all about it: campaign seeks backing from families