THE Balearic Minister for Tourism, Joana Barcelo, said yesterday that the government is backing hoteliers who are taking legal action against British tour operator Thomas Cook over its unilateral cuts in payments to local and Spanish hoteliers.
The Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourism has called Thomas Cook's five percent reduction of summer payments as illegal and has decided to take action against the tour operator after a meeting involving the federation's regional presidents from key tourism destinations including the Balearics.
Yesterday, after a meeting of the Balearic Tourism Board, Barcelo said that not only is the government backing the hoteliers, it is also going to review its relationship with Thomas Cook.
The Minister explained that her department is going to be assessing all of its lines of cooperation and financial aid packages with the tour operator, although she dodged questions about how much the government is considering cutting its Thomas Cook subsidies by.
After the meeting with local union bosses, tourism chiefs and the island councils, the Director General for Tourism development, Antoni Munar said that the Balearics, along with the Canaries and other main destinations including Benidorm and the Costa del Sol, consider Thomas Cooks's action to be a clear case of market abuse.
Munar also revealed that it is only the UK wing of Thomas Cook which has decided to take such action, not its German branch.
Thomas Cooks's action do not appear to have gone down well with the rest of the UK travel industry either.
One British tourism expert said that it could set a very bad precedent and that if Thomas Cooks is allowed to get away with it, there is the danger that other tour operators may follow suit.
The Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourism said yesterday that its has expressed its strong opposition to Thomas Cook's requirement right from the start.
According to the confederation, the move clearly breaks contract terms and represents a dangerous precedent for the Spanish hotel industry.
We will provide legal advice for all the affected hoteliers with the aim of recovering the owed and unpaid amounts, it said in a statement. The confederation has not only taken the issue up with the Spanish competition authorities but also European.
Thomas Cook announced last month that it was imposing a five percent reduction of summer payments on hotels worldwide for all unpaid invoices for August and September. The tour operator claims that it has been pushed into introducing the discounts to cover the losses incurred by the volcanic ash cloud which the company maintains cost the tour operator over 80 million pounds.
Nevertheless, the confederation has made it clear that, while its seeks legal advice, it is going to keep up the pressure on Thomas Cook.
No comments
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
Currently there are no comments.