Thomas Cook is offering £170 off summer 2012 holidays in this morning’s national newspapers, declaring: “We’ve delivered great value for 170 years. 2012 will be no different.”
Adverts in today’s papers also feature an open letter from Thomas Cook acting chief executive Sam Weihagen thanking customers for their “extraordinary support”.
Both advertisements will be repeated on Wednesday as the group goes all out to counter the negative impact of last week’s share-price meltdown after the company postponed publication of its annual results while it sought emergency bank funding.
The group’s immediate future was assured late on Friday when its banks made £200 million in additional funds available.
Thomas Cook’s share price recovered a little lost ground on Monday, rising more than 20% to close at 22p, more than double the low point of last week. However, the London Stock Exchange as a whole rose almost 3%.
The offer of £170 off holidays for next summer has been in Thomas Cook store windows since the weekend. It applies until this Friday on package holiday bookings of £1,200 and above.
Thomas Cook would not disclose the cost of the campaign, but more than two-thirds of the newspaper adverts are full page.
Weihagen acknowledged UK bookings were down 30% year on year last week following last Tuesday’s shock announcement. However, he insisted he did not expect a long-term impact on Thomas Cook sales.
In his open letter, Weihagen said: “I’m so pleased to let you know our banking discussions have been successful and I want to show our appreciation for the incredible encouragement and support we have received.
“Thomas Cook today is an even stronger and more confident company. You can be sure your holiday is in safe hands with us.
“There has been absolutely no impact at all on the holidays and services we deliver.”