Airtours’ Aspro brand has been one of the biggest casualties of last summer’s merger between Thomas Cook and MyTravel.
Speaking as he launched the group’s core programmes, Thomas Cook holidays division director of product Tony Hopkins said the budget brand has been discontinued and its product offering is now being incorporated into the Sunset programme.
The decision has meant that for the first time the Sunset brand will feature Italy with three resorts on offer, while the Mexico programme has benefited from the addition of three new properties.
Hopkins said: “There’s a big growth for the Sunset brand, which is already strong in Turkey and some of the budget areas of Greece.”
The move has been made as the group works to assimilate the many different brands that it inherited following the merger, a process which Hopkins said has proved relatively pain free.
“There have been some difficult decisions but they are at a particular level or in an individual brochure. Everybody has integrated well,” he added.
He said within the key Thomas Cook brand nine brochures have been launched, including Thomas Cook Summersun and Thomas Cook Weddings, while other first editions being launched include Panorama Summersun, Airtours Summersun, Manos Greece, Cyprus and Turkey and Style Villas with Pools.
Hopkins said the group is confident the trade will easily understand any changes made. He added: “We’ve communicated with all of our agent partners to explain the brand strategy.”