Thomas Cook China plans two further own-brand hotels

Jan 20th 2019, Thomas Cook China, the joint venture between Thomas Cook Group and Fosun Tourism Group, today announces plans for further growth in its own-brand hotel portfolio in China with an additional two projects, including the first Asian Casa Cook and Thomas Cook’s boutique hotel brand.

In the ceremony in Shanghai, Peter Fankhauser, Thomas Cook Group Chief Executive Officer, and Jim Qian, Fosun Tourism Group Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, signed memorandums of understanding for the development of a Casa Cook and a Thomas Cook Sunwing Family Resort in Fosun’s developments in Lijiang in southwestern China, and Taicang near Shanghai, respectively. The hotels will be built by Fosun Tourism Group and managed by Thomas Cook China.

The two properties follow previously-announced projects with DreamEast Group, a leading tourist resort development company listed in Hong Kong, for two Thomas Cook Sunwing Family Resorts, one, in Jiashan near Shanghai and the other Hengyang, in southern China.

These new projects represent another milestone in the development of the company’s own-brand hotel offering in China to further differentiate Thomas Cook from local competitors, while opening up the sizeable opportunity which exists within the large and fast-growing Chinese domestic tourism market. Thomas Cook China was founded in 2016 and grew customers eight-fold in 2018. Through partnerships and its own distribution channels, it is building the foundations to grow, over time, to become comparable in size to Thomas Cook’s other key source markets.

The Lijiang and Taicang resorts are Fosun Tourism Group’s flagship development projects. Lijiang is a 350,000 square metre development in Yunnan province in southwest China targeting mid-to high-end customers, and includes a Club Med resort. The Taicang project includes 145,000 square metres of development land in Taicang city, 30 minutes from Shanghai. Both destinations are expected to open in late 2020.

Thomas Cook Sunwing Family Resorts is a brand within Thomas Cook Hotels and Resorts division which has a portfolio of 200 hotels under eight brands across Europe, Middle East and Asia, including the popular lifestyle brand Casa Cook and the innovative Cook’s Club. Thomas Cook Sunwing Family Resorts, which have a chic, Scandinavian design, have extensive facilities and grounds, large family-sized rooms as well as the holiday company’s signature kids’ mascots Lollo the giraffe and Bernie the bear. Casa Cook, which Thomas Cook launched three years ago with the opening of its first hotel in Rhodes, is an award-winning boutique hotel brand with a focus on design, high-quality food and wellbeing.

The hotels will be operated under franchise from Thomas Cook Hotels and Resorts, adding further properties to its pipeline of hotel developments. In summer 2019, Thomas Cook Hotels and Resorts will operate 200 hotels, with more than 40,000 rooms in 47 destinations around the world.

Peter Fankhauser, Thomas Cook Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “By partnering with Fosun Tourism Group to develop two flagship new hotels that will be managed through our joint venture, we’re making the most of our relationship to give Chinese customers a holiday experience that’s very different to what’s on offer from the competition. It’s especially pleasing to be realising our long-held ambition to work with Fosun Tourism Group to launch own-brand hotels, which form the core of our group strategy for profitable growth, here in China.”

Jim Qian, Fosun Tourism Group Executive Director and CEO, said: “Today’s agreements with Thomas Cook China are another step forward in the development of our two key destination projects in Lijiang and Taicang. Building on the strengths of each other’s businesses, this strategic partnership further enhances Fosun Tourism Group’s proposition for the development of new tourism destinations, integrating two new hotel brands that fit perfectly within our existing portfolio.”