Thomas Cook results: winter bookings and selling prices up

Thomas Cook has reported a marked increase in winter bookings for the forthcoming season in the UK market.

Following the release of the Thomas Cook Group’s audited results for the 12 months ending September 30, chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa said although the cumulative bookings are 11% behind this time last year, over the past four weeks there has only been a 1% drop in bookings.

At the same time, the operator has seen a 6% increase in the average selling price and comes following a 9% cut in capacity by the vertically integrated operator for the season.

The results paint an equally positive picture for the UK summer 2010 market.

Although next summer’s brochures were released later leading to only 20% of the operator’s entire capacity sold to date, bookings in the last four weeks are up by 14% while average selling prices have increased by 2%.

Fontenla-Novoa said: “Looking ahead, the late-booking trend is still evident, but our winter 09/10 trading position continues to improve and trend towards our planned capacity.

“Although it is still early in the cycle, bookings for next summer are also in line with our expectations. Recent customer research shows that UK consumers remain intent on taking their holidays abroad next summer and we continue to see strong growth in bookings to medium-haul destination such as Turkey and Egypt.”

He added the operator’s own focus on medium-haul destinations in the UK has proved effective, both due to the recent rise in the euro against the pound and medium-haul destinations meeting the increased demand for all-inclusive and four and five-star properties.

Fontenla-Novoa said sales for these types of properties remain resilient in the current market.

The group’s overall results have seen a 0.4% reduction in pre-tax profit to £308.2 million despite a 5.9% increase in revenue to £9.3 billion.