Thomas Cook counts cost of Tunisia atrocity

A Tunisian beach earlier this month. The terror attack and subsequent travel warning will cost Thomas Cook about 39m

TRAVEL operator Thomas Cook has warned of a £39 million earnings hit from the combined impact of the terrorist atrocity in Tunisia, the Greek debt crisis and the weakening of the euro.

The attack, which last month claimed the lives of 38 holidaymakers including 30 UK nationals, is expected to have a £20m impact on the company’s full-year results with a further effect possible next year.

This takes into account the impact of cancelled trips, rearranging the summer flying programme to alternative destinations and the cost of repatriating customers to the UK.

The group sells 600-700,000 holidays to the North African country every year but has seen this wiped out as the Foreign Office and other governments in Europe officially advised against travelling there.

Thomas Cook’s warning came amid news of an improved financial performance in the three months to the end of June. Pre-tax losses nearly halved from £81m to £44m while revenues edged up by 0.2 per cent to £1.95 billion.