Thomascook.com boss eyes becoming ‘one of the big guys’

Chief executive Alan French speaks about the relaunch of the heritage brand as an OTA

The boss of Thomas Cook, the UK’s newest OTA, which has emerged from the ashes of the heritage travel brand after its collapse a year ago has been talking about his ambitions.

In an interview with Travolution sister title Travel Weekly, Alan French, the former Cook technology and group strategy director says its ambition is to be “one of the big guys”.

Thomascook.com relaunched last week selling holidays to only three European countries that currently do not require returning visitors to go into two-week quarantine.

The brand has secured a small Atol licence for a month and is applying for a licence to cover the following 12 months for a “reasonable amount” of passengers.

“Our ambition is to be one of the big guys over a period of time,” French said.

“Before coronavirus we had a much more bullish plan but I think we will be able to grow quite significantly. The opportunity is to be nimbler and quicker.”

Here’s how four digital experts rated thomas.cook.com’s chances of reviving and reinventing a one much-loved and historic travel brand as on OTA.