• The bankruptcy of Thomas Cook leaves seven million trips in Spain
  • Thomas Cook files for bankruptcy and leaves 600,000 tourists abroad

The announcement of the bankruptcy of the British group Thomas Cook, the second world tour operator and the oldest, yesterday triggered alarms in the Spanish tourism sector, which fears a colossal impact on our country, especially at a time when there is a slowdown .

Thomas Cook hurried his last months of life as the extinct Viajes Marsans with Gerardo Díaz Ferrán , according to the sources of the sector consulted. His debt was unpayable and his cash decreasing, so he was getting badly charging customers in advance and paying hoteliers, coach companies and other unsuspecting people as late as possible in a pyramidal forward flight that was increasingly difficult to maintain. .

Customers were losing confidence in the oldest travel agency in the world and Brexit sank the pound sterling while hoteliers increasingly demanded Thomas Cook advance payment.

However, the British tourism giant still provided so many hundreds of thousands of customers that it was necessary to choose between the risk of losing occupation or suffering a hole, if one day it went bankrupt. The second has happened. According to the executive vice president of the employer Exceltur, José Luis Zoreda , the hole left by Thomas Cook to the Spanish tourism sector is at least 200 million euros. From the Iberostar chain of the Fluxá a Meliá family, from the Escarrer , they find invoices pending difficult collection. Lopesan also in the Canary Islands and a long squad of companies in the sector. The Riu family group breathes for working with rival Tui and Barceló had already had tensions with Thomas Cook that now save him from the breakdown.

The operator (through its three airlines) operated seven million trips to Spain last year (between entrances and exits), a total of 3.6 million travelers of the 82 million foreigners who visited us.

The acting Government will meet today with the most affected autonomous communities to assess «the negative impact» of bankruptcy, in the words of Reyes Maroto, acting minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism.

The president of the Spanish Confederation of Travel Agencies (Ceav) came to compare the cessation of the activity of the British operator with the fall of Lehman Brothers for the financial sector. Only in the Canary Islands tourists managed by the British group are already 20% of the total number of foreigners arriving. There are currently between 25,000 and 30,000 affected by bankruptcy in the islands.

In the Balearic Islands, the figure is between 10 and 15%, according to the Hotel Business Federation of Mallorca, which warned that this bankruptcy is of "unprecedented magnitude" for Mallorca.

Impact on the Canary and Balearic Islands

The president of the Federation of Hoteliers of Tenerife, Jorge Marichal, warned in addition to the "broken in air connectivity", because Thomas Cook (which had three airlines: Condor, Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinav) was "one of the main actors »because many telemarketers hired the group to make their journeys by plane.

In the Canary Islands the problem is exacerbated because in recent years several of the airlines flying to the islands have broken down (Air Berlin, Monarch ...) and, in addition, in January Ryanair, another one with the most passengers moving, will close its bases in Tenerife and Gran Canaria.

In fact, several Canarian investors have tried these days to inject private capital into the British group to avoid its disappearance, as recognized yesterday by the president of the island Government, Ángel Víctor Torres.

DIFFICULT CALCULATION

The associations of the sector made calculations yesterday to quantify the economic hole that can leave in hotels and travel agencies the disappearance of the tour operator, although it was difficult (or scary) to reach an approximate figure.

Industry sources estimate the impact, only for Canarian hoteliers, at 50 million euros. There are hoteliers who had agreements with the company and who do not know now if they can charge, especially in the islands, where the winter season is powerful.

Other more optimistic sources consider that the tourists who until now left their vacation packages in the hands of Thomas Cook will look for other alternatives or go with other tour operators, such as the German group Tui, which may be the main beneficiary.

Winter season

Hoteliers, especially from the islands that had not yet signed contracts for 2020, will also have to look at options. In the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands the winter tourist season is stronger , so the hole will be larger, since some packages were already contracted.

In other areas of Spain the impact will be lighter. In the Valencian Community, the Ministry of Tourism said that "it will not be as serious" as in other areas since the contracting of tourist packages with this operator has been reduced "considerably" (places have been reduced by half in the last year) and the only airport that still operated with them is Alicante.

Globally, the crisis of Thomas Cook delves into a wound that began with Brexti. The United Kingdom is the main tourist issuing market for Spain (18.5 million in 2018) and this year it is being noticed that less British arrive at our destinations as a result of political uncertainty.

IMPACT OF BREXIT

In fact, in the month of July our country already received 1.3% less international tourists, especially since less British and German arrived. In 2018 there were already 1.6% less visits by citizens of the United Kingdom.

The hotel employers coordinated by the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodations (CEHAT) have asked the Executive for a package of measures to mitigate the effects that the tour operator's bankruptcy may have on the sector in Spain.

UGT Canarias said yesterday that the closure of the tour operator affects the job stability of more than 10% of the workers in the hospitality sector in the Canary Islands, a sector that employs some 135,000 people in the Islands.

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  • Spain
  • United Kingdom
  • Canary Islands
  • Ryanair
  • Reyes Maroto
  • Majorca
  • Valencian Community
  • Balearics
  • Alicante
  • tourism
  • UGT

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