Thomas Cook in the UK is cutting the amount it pays hoteliers across Greece, Turkey, Egypt and Spain by 5% for August and September.
The operator confirmed that requests had been made to properties across its main markets due to the “difficult summer”. A spokeswoman declined to say how many hoteliers have been approached but the number will be significant.
The action was taken as an alternative to cutting capacity, she said. “It has been a difficult summer and we needed a bit of support from hoteliers,” she said.
“Rather than cut capacity from the UK we wanted to continue in the same way as usual but we have asked for a contribution from our partner hotels of 5% for August and September.”
The 5% reduction equated to around 1.5% when taken across the whole of the summer season, the spokeswoman added.
But a number of hoteliers in Alicante on the Costa Blanca have voiced anger at the move. They are concerned that the measure could be a dangerous precedent and be copied by other operators.
The Thomas Cook spokeswoman said the situation with hoteliers in the region had been resolved following what she described as a “small amount” of concern.
“There has been a little bit of noise and it has all been sorted,” she added.