Thomas Cook is poised to delay the launch of summer 2010 brochures in the UK by two months.
Chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa told Travel Weekly: “There are a lot of reasons why we may not go in May – perhaps in July.
“One is that we are considering the [currency] hedging for 2010. A second is we would be asking consumers to commit to expenditure when it may be too early. A third is we want to see how this year is going.”
TUI Travel, Cosmos and The Co-operative Travel Group also indicated they may delay launching brochures this year.
Fontenla-Novoa said: “We have been looking at this for four or five months. We would lose a little cashflow, but it could make sense. It would let us concentrate on summer 2009.”
He added: “We used to go on sale in August 10-15 years ago and people queued outside the shop.”
At the same time, the Thomas Cook boss gave a vote of confidence in the 800 retail agencies that will distribute the brochures, insisting he has no plans to rationalise shops.
“The high street is proving robust and I’m happy we have a strong retail network. High-street agents are by far the most popular place to buy a holiday.”