Imagine for a moment that you’ve got one of the biggest jobs in travel, running Thomson Travel Group. Now we’ve all been critical of the policy of flooding the market with cheap holidays, but what would anyone else do in Thomson’s position?
Thomson wants First Choice to link up with Kuoni, not Airtours, so it should make the proposed merger between First Choice and Kuoni sexier for shareholders. At the moment, it pales into insignificance when compared with the Airtours proposal.
Perhaps Thomson could announce its intention to take a stake in a new First Choice/Kuoni. Suddenly that sounds pretty sexy with Thomson’s clout and distribution and could get the backing of First Choice shareholders. Failing that, if I was running Thomson I would tell the City exactly what we have got – a good brand, a huge customer base and some great people.
I would also tell the City that there will be no price war, that being market leader is not crucial and that Thomson will concentrate on alliances abroad and in the UK to further strengthen its position.
Thomson could then do a deal with Kuoni – another quality brand – and secure an alliance or take a stake in a beefed-up Cosmos so it can offer a decent alternative to Thomson through Lunn Poly. Do you agree?Or can I here you saying ‘Don’t give up your day job’?
Jeremy Skidmore – editor
1. Airtoursup to 34%
2. Thomson28%
3. Thomas Cook16%