After the Preussag takeover of Thomson
last year, the other major German travel company, C&N
Touristic, is set to announce the takeover of Thomas Cook's
holiday division.
Only last
month, C&N was widely reported as being close to
sealing a deal with Airtours, now the largest tour operator
in the UK. Ironically, it is believed that the large losses
generated from Airtours' own German subsidiary meant the
deal collapsed.
If C&N is successful in
gaining control of the country's third biggest operator,
which includes companies such as Neilson, JMC and Sunworld,
the travel industry will look towards Airtours and First
Choice to see how they react.
Europhobes should not panic
however. At last week's ABTA conference in Kos, Thomson
Chief Executive, Charles Gurassa, showed a surprisingly
stereotyped view of our Teutonic friends when he claimed
that German ownership will have little effect:
'It does not mean our customers
will be put on a German bus with a German guide and made
to eat Bratwurst for breakfast.'
