The company’s chief executive revealed this morning (February 7) it had seen a decline in footfall in its stores, and that where summer 2018 bookings started very strongly, bookings for summer 2019 reflect some consumer uncertainty, particularly in the UK.
“Some customers appear to be putting off bookings amid uncertainty about Brexit and we have also seen a decline in footfall in our stores consistent with other high street retailers,” said Peter Fankhauser.
“In the Nordics, customers seem to be slow to book for winter 2019 after a hot summer last year, [while] high prices in the Canaries have impacted demand… so it’s a bit of everything.
“We took lessons from last year and made capacity reductions, especially in the UK. We are protecting cash flow in 2019.”
However, Fankhauser added summer prices in all markets were up so it will be able to “protect the margin because we have a lower capacity to sell”.
Average selling prices for this winter were slightly down for Cook, by 3%, with bookings down 2%.
Fankhauser said he was confident hotel prices in the Canaries would be “corrected” in time for next winter.
“They reacted a bit too late this time,” he said.
He further added that Cook felt “very well prepared” for Brexit and was taking steps to prepare in the event of a no-deal.
“I cannot see a situation where airlines will be grounded, and we are working extensively with the authorities on that,” he said.
Fankhauser also revealed Cook’s Brexit information pages online were receiving 800 hits per day.
Elsewhere, Cook reiterated that despite a recent decline in footfall to its stores – and its closure of 200 of them in recent years – it was not planning a large-scale store closure programme.
“But we will continue to review the performance of individual stores as the leases come up,” Fankhauser added.
