'I wonder where Mr Cook's going on holiday'

I remember when I was a kid, walking along the high street and always stopping outside a window that had lovely pictures of beaches, resorts and fun parks alongside handwritten large letters saying ‘Costa Blanca’, ‘Benidorm’, ‘Tenerife’ and of course the little less exotic ‘Blackpool weekend B&B’.

It was the late 70s and early 80s and the shop window was of course Thomas Cook’s. I have memories of going down the street, not a happy kid when you’re shopping with Mum, but waiting to stop outside Thomas Cook to see all those wonderful places (OK, you’re easily impressed when you about eightyears-old – today anything short of the Seychelles or Japan will not even make you look).

When I was even smaller, I used to believe Thomas Cook was actually the name of the travel agent behind the counter (what do you expect at six?) and believed he had actually been to all those wonderful places and that those pictures in the window were his holiday snaps. So the question in my head would be ‘Where’s Thomas Cook going on holiday this year?’

Of course, the sad truth came out as maturity settled in and I realised that although the nice man or woman behind the desk at Thomas Cook had a staff discount to go to those places, many of them were still on their bucket list, as well as mine.

Eventually all those pictures of ‘Benidorm’ and ‘Costa Blanca’ became an everyday sight from our first Benidorm apartment window when we moved here. But no doubt our Spanish adventure – although admittedly, it was Mum and Dad’s idea and I sort of got tagged along (and I will always thank them for that) – began with a peek at Thomas Cook’s window.

In the 80s, Thomas Cook was thriving and its TV commercial ‘Don’t just book it. Thomas Cook it’ became a company motto.

In the 90s and 2000s whenever we went back to visit family and friends, I remember stopping outside the window again and again, this time with curiosity steering towards how much a full board or all-inclusive package holiday was costing and which hotels were offering the deals.

Many times I would giggle at the difference between the glorious photos of what I knew were two and three-star hotels that appeared as de-luxe five-star complexes in the window and later on large TV screen. You know what I mean don’t you? Wideangle lenses and Photoshop does wonders and the 4x8metres paddle-pool next to the busy main road and three discos looked like an Olympic-size swimming pool in a quiet bliss, miles away from anything.

Of course, the photos never really picked-up the essence of loud music until the early hours of the morning, other drunk British holidaymakers making a scene at the lobby or the roadwork beginning at 07.30 – at least it made sure you got to the buffet breakfast before all the rest of package-tour Brits had managed to stuff their handbags with croissants and fruit (‘to take the beach ya know?’) before you got anywhere near it.

The arrival of internet booking, low cost airlines and Airbnb slowly had its effect and the Thomas Cook shop was no longer the eye-turning spot on the high street. Package deals still have a market, especially in the UK, but it appears Britain’s longest-running travel agency did not jump on the bandwagon soon enough, or efficiently (if you want to discuss the real reasons please join the hundreds doing so on our Facebook page since Monday).

The fact remains today that that Thomas Cook employee I sort of envied (well obviously not the same one, but probably their son or even grandson by now) will not be sitting behind his desk this week and will certainly not be getting any sort of bonus or staff discounts on his or her Costa hols this year.

On Friday, when the news broke out that Thomas Cook faced collapse, it obviously caught my eye and we immediately posted it on Facebook. As expected nowadays, thanks mainly to all politicians crying ‘fake news’ and distrust towards the press, the first comments we got were ‘it’s scaremongering’, ‘it won’t affect holidaymakers because of ATOL’, and a few following the same trend. Today I’m not happy to say you were right and far from scaremongering, we are now, once again (remember Monarch?) in the face of the ‘largest repatriation operation since WWII’.

The curtains have been drawn on all Thomas Cook shop windows, the sparkle of Costa hols customers saved up for has gone and the man or woman behind the desk will be now be sitting in front of another one…at the employment office. It’s a sad day, not only for all of us to whom ‘Mr Cook’ introduced to the Costa Blanca, but for the thousands that formed part of that team that once made your wishes come true - even if it was just for a fortnight every year.

Of course, it’s a sad week for all its customers abroad who are now concerned over how they will be repatriated and for the other thousands who had already booked their next trip.

It’s also a sad day for many here is Spain who have probably not even heard of Thomas Cook, although ‘He’ was actually pumping millions of pounds into the tourism industry in Spain, via its airline, its hotels and its packages deals that brought thousands of holidaymakers to the country every year – and that’s thousands not only spending in their own establishments but also using their now devalued pounds in Costa bars, restaurants and leisure complexes.

So thanks Mr Cook for the many years of making those dreams come true and leaving a permanent mark in history. Of course, there was actually ‘a Thomas Cook’ – he was not the man behind that desk in our high street branch but a cabinet-maker who founded on Thomas Cook & Son back in 1841. He organised trips to Europe in 1855 and the US by 1866. In 1948 the company was nationalised and became part of the British Transport Commission and then privatised in 1972 – see below

As a curio, Thomas Cook introduced ‘circular notes’ in 1874, the predecessor of the American ‘Travellers Cheque’ scheme.

In any case 178 years trading was ‘a dam good innings’ – thanks Mr Cook