Thomas Cook to unveil ‘substantially improved’ UK website

Thomas Cook is poised to launch a new website in the UK which it describes as “fully responsive” and with a “substantially improved user interface”.

Thomas Cook is poised to launch a new website in the UK which it describes as “fully responsive” and with a “substantially improved user interface”.

The site is due to be unveiled in the UK this month and then be rolled out across Europe.

Thomas Cook put its web strategy at the heart of its half-year results announced yesterday, noting “significant progress in transforming Thomas Cook from a detached and disjoined web legacy to a fully integrated digital business”.

Chief executive Harriet Green reported the group took £3 billion online or about one-third of its revenue in the 12 months to March.

Online bookings over the six months to the end of March increased to almost 39% of the total compared, with 36.4% over the 12 months, and the company reported bookings via tablets and mobile devices worth £0.5 billion.

Green noted: “We expect to generate further momentum in the second half of this year as we move towards a ‘tipping point’ when we expect web penetration to accelerate.”

UK and Continental Europe chief executive Peter Fankhauser said: “Thomas Cook now has a robust digital backbone.”

At the same time, Fankhauser affirmed Cook’s commitment to the high street, saying: “We will still have a strong footprint in retail. Our shops are all profitable.”

Cook reported a year-on-year fall in underlying operating losses to £187 million for the six months to March, when travel companies traditionally report a loss.

The group cut its net debt by one third to £811 million and hailed “a significant milestone” in its “strategy for sustainable, profitable growth”.