Thomas Cook

About 50,000 tourists are stranded in Greece and mainly on island resorts after British travel firm Thomas Cook collapsed, the tourism minister said on Monday as extra flights were booked to ease their return home.

About 50,000 tourists are stranded in Greece, mainly on islands, as a result of British travel firm Thomas Cook's collapse, a Greek tourism ministry official told Reuters on Monday.

The tourists, mainly British, were vacationing in the islands of Zakynthos, Kos, Corfu, Skiathos and Crete, the official said. 

Hours after the collapse of British tour operator Thomas Cook, Turkish authorities moved to reassure tourists in Turkey who booked and paid for their holidays through the iconic firm.       

The world's oldest travel firm Thomas Cook collapsed on Monday, stranding hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers around the globe and sparking the largest peacetime repatriation effort in British history.

Chinese company Fosun has agreed to acquire 75 percent of UK group Thomas Cook's tour operations and 25 percent of its airline business for 450 million pounds (497 million euros) while the group's creditors - banks and bondholders - will put up a similar amount to buy 25 percent of the tour business and 75 percent of the airline business.

Two global tourism giants with assets in Greece are about to join forces, Thomas Cook has suggested, announcing that it is in talks with its 15 percent stakeholder Fosun Tourism for a share capital increase in the British tour operator that will see Fosun assuming control.

Leading British tour operator Thomas Cook has asked Greek hoteliers to renegotiate their package deals for this summer, in the hope of slashing bookings and rates in the context of the company's business plan agreed with its creditors and because it expects demand from major markets such as Britain and France to flag.

Leading British tour operator Thomas Cook announced this week that it has acquired two new properties in Greece, which will take its total number of hotel units in this country to four.
The operator has bought out Casa Cook Kos, a 100-room unit that it has been operating on the Dodecanese island and which has been the most profitable unit bearing the company's name.

Sofia. For the first six months of 2018, we have over EUR 1.3 billion in revenue, which is 9.7% more than last year, Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova said in an interview with Focus News Agency about the summer tourist season.

Madrid. Three men have died from heatstroke in Spain as Europe sweltered in a record heatwave Friday, with temperatures hitting a scorching 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in some areas and meteorologists saying only scant relief is in sight in the coming days, reported AFP> 

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