Thomas Cook comes to Russia
3 September 2007

One of the largest tourism companies in the world, Thomas Cook, is to establish a presence in Russia and has already held meetings with major Russian tour operators.

According to the CEO of Thomas Cook, Manny Fontenla-Novoa, the group is eager to buy companies in Russia, Germany, China and India.  He commented, “The Russian market offers excellent prospects for us. Russians travel a lot, especially to Turkey and Egypt, where our company operates”. According to Mr. Nova, the move to Russia was a necessary step to raise company profits in light of fuel price increases and the doubling of aviation tax.

The British company, Thomas Cook Group, owns Thomas Cook Airlines (with more than 100 aircraft), Airtours, Direct Holidays, Going Places, Manos, Panorama, Sunset and Thomas Cook. The company has more than 300 offices including franchises. 52% of the company’s shares belong to Arcandor AG, which controls Karstadt Quelle. The Group’s consolidated profit in 2006 amounted to US$9.9 bln, with a net profit of US$229.5 bln.