A case study on decadence and downfall of Thomas Cook

Pages: 223-225
Subhendu Bhattacharya and Sona Raghuvanshi (Amity Global Business School, Mumbai, Mumbai, Maharashtra)

Thomas Cook, British travel group faced serious setback and were forced to file bankruptcy. Nobody ever thought that such a renowned company will confront disgraceful shocking fate. There are multiple factors that contributed to closure of venerable veteran business. Uncertainty of weather, high-strung competition from online travel agents and low-cost airlines, self-reliance of customers in ticket booking and hotel reservation, geopolitical tensions in the world, prolonged Brexit impasse and ongoing trade war made a deleterious blow to the business. Thomas Cook tried to restructure its business process and revive the moribund status but cash strapped company could not salvage its reputation in competitive business world. It was tragic for 178 years old illustrious British travel company to shut down its operation when it failed to garner emergency funding of $249 million. This distressing inability of debtridden UK based iconic travel company resulted in tremendous loss of shareholders, joblessness of 22,000 people and sudden uncertainty of service for 600,000 travelers in September 2019. Lack of foresightedness, failure to gauge the change in market dynamics, inability to perceive customer preference. indifference towards market trend pursued by competitors and laggardness in catching up with new technology caused the downfall and demise of century old travel giant.