Thomas Cook chief to meet Bobby and Christi’s parents today
Thomas Cook boss Peter Fankhauser will meet with the parents of Bobby and Christi Shepherd in private later today.
He is expected to apologise in person to Neil Shepherd and Sharon Wood for the deaths of their two children, aged 6 and 7, while on holiday in Corfu.
The youngsters were poisoned by carbon monoxide at the Louis Corcyra Beach Hotel in 2006, and last week an inquest in Wakefield ruled their deaths were ‘unlawful’.
Thomas Cook was cleared of responsibility by an investigation in Greece in 2010 and received £3 million damages from the hotel – half of which it has since donated to charity – but Wakefield coroner David Hinchcliff said the firm had ‘breached its duty of care’.
Mr Shepherd and Mrs Wood had criticised Thomas Cook for not apologising to them directly, although yesterday chief executive Fankhauser made a public apology and admitted the operator could have treated the family better.
However, influential parenting website Mumsnet yesterday pulled Thomas Cook’s adverts from its website. Chief executive Justine Roberts said: Mumsnet users – understandably – felt that we should stop promotional activity for Thomas Cook on the site, given the details that emerged during the inquest, so we took the decision to pull the campaign. Thomas Cook also wanted to call a halt to things, as they were getting lots of criticism on the site."
After Thomas Cook released its half-year financial results yersterday, a city analyst accused it of significantly underestimating the potential reputational impact of the deaths of Robert and Christianne Shepherd almost a decade ago.
Analyst Ken Odeluga of CityIndex said he questioned the collective judgement of the current management. However, he pointed out that some of the team weren’t in charge of Thomas Cook in 2006 when the incident occurred.
Another analyst said the consumer backlash was unlikely to be felt by Thomas Cook until next year, as consumers had already decided who to book with this summer.
"The markets will be looking for what the company has to say over the recent bad press following the 2006 deaths in Greece and the compensation debacle.
"Any possible customer backlash following the Greek-related compensation debacle may take until next year’s numbers to show, with this summer’s bookings likely to be already locked down by consumers.
"Despite pressure this week, the stock will find some support thanks to the stake that Chinese firm Fosun took in March, any real weakness will leave investors thinking the Chinese won’t miss the opportunity to gain more of a holding at a discount," said Will Hedden, a dealer at London Capital Group.
Odeluga said Thomas Cook’s promising financial results needed to be balanced against ‘foreign exchange headwinds’ which, he warned, could trip £20 million from its full year results.
"Still, investors will welcome the continued progress by the firm, especially because of the probability of a near-term revival of its dividend policy," he added.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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