LONDON – The world’s oldest travel firm Thomas Cook collapsed on Monday, stranding hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers around the globe and sparking the largest peacetime repatriation effort in British history.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to get stranded British travelers home, revealing the government had rejected a request from Thomas Cook for a bailout of around 150 million pounds.
The firm ran hotels, resorts and airlines for 19-million people a year in 16 countries. It currently has 600,000 people abroad.
The liquidation marks the end of one of Britain’s oldest companies which started life in 1841 running local rail excursions before it survived two world wars to pioneer package holidays and mass tourism.(Reuters)
