The big keep getting bigger - EU Giants In Travel

The big keep getting bigger.

The sea change that occurred over the last 18 months in Europe in distribution is now starting to bear fruit. The two powerhouses of TUI and Thomas Cook (daughter company of the old Karstadt Quelle) have now been admitted to the UK’s FTSE (Footsie) 100 top shares. (This is the UK equivalent of the Dow Jones index). This may seem to be a big achievement but in reality it simply acknowledges that the world’s second largest commercial market after financial services is Travel. Further it acknowledges that the concentration of the distribution system into fewer hands is a global trend. Congrats to both companies. Let the battle commence. At December 12th close, Thomas Cook Group had the 96th largest market capitalization of UK listed companies; TUI Travel was 88th.