Thomas Cook’s Joint Venture with Russian Intourists

Added by Elivia DeVries on November 25, 2010

Russian travel group Intourist will be bought by Thomas Cook, the second biggest tour operator in Europe.

The statement was made on Thursday, as Thomas Cook is planning to expand and buy more groups in Brazil and China, in order to respond to the tourists’ high demand for family holidays and beach trips to the Mediterranean.

However, Thomas Cook is not planning to take over the Russian travel group, but to purchase a 50.1 per cent stake. The European tour operator Thomas Cook intends to invest as much as $45m in the soon-to-be joint venture. The investment will consist in shares at Thomas Cook, amounting $35m, and another $10m in cash.

Thomas Cook CEO Manny Fontela-Novoa stated that the company is looking into emerging markets that are developing fast. “The move into Russia is in line with our established strategy of capturing growth in emerging markets. I am glad we have taken our time to secure a strong partnership,” stated the company’s CEO.

The tour operator’s CEO also said that Thomas Cook has been looking into Chinese and Brazilian markets for a long time. Fontela-Novoa said that even though the Russian purchase might have been considered slow, the acquisition in China will take even more time.