Cook paying price of terror

Tour operator Thomas Cook said bookings remained under pressure as the travel market continues to be hit by recent terror attacks.

The holiday giant revealed that, while demand from British sunseekers was robust over the summer, with bookings up 1%, sales were hit hard in Germany and across the Continent, tumbling by 9%.

Bookings were also “significantly down” in Belgium after the terrorist attacks at Brussels Airport in March.

But stripping out the impact of sharply lower demand for trips to previously popular Turkey, bookings surged by 13% over the summer in the UK and were 8% higher overall. Chief executive Peter Fankhauser said travellers still wanted to go overseas, but have switched to destinations such as the Balearics, Canaries and US, and smaller destinations like Bulgaria and Cuba.

Thomas Cook cut its annual earnings outlook in July.