Guest blogger # 3 - Andy Washington (again)

Andy Washington, sales director at Cosmos, emails again (thoughts on the first day):

"The conference sessions are due to begin at 9 , But by the look of some people they've only just got in from the night before! Work hard/play hard!

"The sessions kick off with the introductions of local officials followed by Prof Richard Scase's view on the Global Remix and customer demographics.

"This guy needs to slow down otherwise he'll blow a gasket. He rattles off an entertaining and informative presentation which suggests men and women are far happier being single or divorced.

"Jeff Gazzard puts his stance forward in session 2 for saving the environment. His 15 minutes are summed up much clearer by Dermot Blastland with a follow presentation in 2 minutes.

"There is clearly a lot of work for the industry to do to tackle and influence climate change iin a positive way and Dermot's passion for this subject is inspiring.

"Manny is up next to tell us how Cook's will take on the world and how they will do it. Unfortunately he can't really tell us because quite rightly he had a loyalty to his own staff first and they will be briefed on the 18 June.

"Manny's honest shines through but 10 minutes before this session we all received the news about the new TC board and some shock waves swept through the audience.

"Next up Richard Reeves who gives more marriage counselling. It pays to be single they keep telling us! I thought this was a travel conference.

"The marriage made in heaven though was the water volley ball competition in partnership with the travel inndustry. Oh dear, the view from my balcony has just been ruined!

"Surely the winning team would be the team that actually could get the ball over the net. I'm not sure this event will be back, but it's more liekly than some of the random comments from some speakers!

"All in all a good and entertaining day. I've had some excellent meetings too, so trust me there is lots of work being done too.

"Now where's the bar, more networking to do before another early start!"

Manny takes centrestage

So this is the bit that that most have been waiting for: “face to face” with Manny Fontenla-Novoa, boss of Thomas Cook.

Manny gets the basics out of the way. Why has Thomas Cook merged with MyTravel?

1 - Thomas Cook and MyTravel had gaps in their portfolios.
2 - Complimentary brands. No overlap.
3 – There will be a far greater geographical spread of products.
4 – Debt free balance sheet.

On the 19 June Thomas Cool Group PLC will be born. The new company’s strategy?

1 – Integrate businesses (get 18,000 people in the UK to focus)
2 – Strengthen package business
3 – Grow independent travel segment through tailored products/dynamic packaging
4 – Extend financial services business (e.g. foreign exchange)
5 – Active role in future consolidation (“which will happen”)

“Staff strategy” – the key tenet of any merger – will be announced on June 21, Manny says.

He also refuses to answer any question regarding the staff or what will happen to the headquarters of both companies – Thomas Cook in Peterborough, MyTravel in Rochdale.

Manny goes on to give some background to the merger. Apparently Thomas Cook received an offer for “another company”, which was rejected by shareholders.

Of course most people in the industry expected a deal with First Choice – it clearly didn’t happen. Manny fusses a little by saying how much he likes and respects Peter Long (First Choice) and how they’ve seen one another a few times since the deal fell through.

The reality is that the MyTravel merger happened very quickly. Three weeks, in fact.

“It was done in a hurry. We had to decide quickly. It was a deal we wanted.
They wanted it.”

“I upset Peter [Long] and my son [who works for Scottish Widows, a majority
shareholder]”

Manny insists the deal is not “a takeover”. He might need to work harder on assuring delegates and the industry this is not the case.

He also mounts a firm defence of High Street shops (although he admits some will close as a result of the merger).

“In a VI [vertically integrated] group they are not a problem. You can still run
a very profitable business shops.”

Despite looking distinctly uncomfortable whenever staffing crops up in conversation, Manny does rather well.

And the “TUI” count for the entire session? Two. Unless you count “the other deal”, which was also mentioned twice.

Kevin May, editor, Travolution