A bitter rivalry lasting 25 years between former ILG chairman Harry Goodman and Thomson Travel Group has ended after they signed a commercial agreement expected to lead to a long-term strategic partnership.
The ground-breaking deal came after Goodman, now chief executive of TVTravel Shop, and new Thomson chief executive Charles Gurassa decided there were mutual benefits to be had from working together.
So far, TVTravel Shop’s Thomson bookings have been tiny after the operator’s former chief executive and Goodman’s arch-rival from the 1970s and 1980s, Paul Brett, said the concept wouldn’t work.
Now Goodman expects to sell more than £70m worth of holidays for Thomson over the next year.
He said: “The new team at Thomson isn’t interested in the past baggage.”
Posing for a photograph outside Thomson headquarters in London, he added:”This is the third time I’ve been in this building but the other two times I was in disguise.”
Thomson products will be sold for eight hours a day on TVTravel Shop’s new digital channel being launched in July. The two companies will work together to develop Internet and interactive television strategies in the UKand Scandinavia.
Industry observers believe Thomson will eventually take a stake in TVTravel Shop but Goodman pledged to remain independent. “We will not have one dominant operator on the television,” he said.
AThomson spokesman added:”Television is such a powerful medium for selling holidays and this is a great opportunity for both parties.”
Goodman is set to sign deals with two other operators this week.