Retail chief Joanna Wild talks to Hollie-Rae Merrick about Cook’s renewed cruise focus and plans to extend its visit-the-shopfloor sheme to all operator staff
When Thomas Cook announced it was opening a string of specialist cruise stores earlier this month it signalled a renewed focus on a sector it once dominated.
Historically, the retail giant was considered to be the biggest UK cruise agent in terms of volume; however, that was before Cook’s dramatic financial crisis of 2012.
Inevitably, as it fought to secure its future, focus on cruise waned, coinciding with a period when commissions dipped as low as 5%.
Now, the earning potential for agents having been largely restored, head of retail Joanna Wild says Cook is vying for a greater share of the sector.
Cruise stores
The most obvious outward sign of this has been the creation of 11 dedicated cruise stores.
Wild said: “We have been through a massive transformation. Retail is the largest part of the UK organisation and that’s seen some changes. The retail footprint has changed.
“To be frank, cruise wasn’t our number-one focus at that point, but it is now because I can see that market growing quickly and I want a [bigger] piece of it.”
Wild said the trial cruise stores – six of which are in partnership with Royal Caribbean International and five with Carnival UK brands – demonstrated how serious the retailer is about cruise.
The 11 UK-wide stores are in Aberdeen, Harrogate, Gateshead, Merryhill, Liverpool, Maidstone, Darlington, Bolton, Newport, Plymouth and Fareham.
The stores also sell land holidays but all the branding is dedicated to cruise.
“We wanted to test the concept and that’s why we have 11,” she said. “We need to see from a trading perspective how they all perform.
“Obviously they will sell all types of holidays but we could potentially open more. We’re fully committed to this. The test is broad enough to understand feedback from customers, staff and partners.”
Wild said she would be disappointed if Cook’s cruise bookings did not increase significantly as a result of the dedicated cruise stores.
Potential expansion
Wild, who would not reveal the value of Cook’s current cruise business, said she would consider introducing more cruise stores, but would not be drawn on whether these would be new branches or converted existing shops.
However, she did reveal she was open to working with more cruise lines on future projects.
“We sell the likes of Norwegian Cruise Line and Fred Olsen Cruise Lines. It is hard to say because we’re testing this, but if this proves to be an amazing success
it could happen.”
Bosses at Royal Caribbean International and P&O Cruises parent Carnival UK have praised Cook for its renewed cruise focus.
Big-two rival Tui Travel believes Cook’s move is a positive step for the high street (pages 18-19).
Karen Doyle, Tui’s general manager of commercial relations, said cruise specialists had been able to grow market share when Cook was less-focused on cruise.
But she believed Cook’s new stores would help the high street capture new-to-cruise customers.