A bad week for Majorca´s tourist industry which in the short-term will continue to have major repercussions but in the long-term Thomas Cook will just join, the now long list, of travel companies which have disappeared; Clarkson, International Leisure Group (Intasun) and Monarch.
The demise of Thomas Cook had been expected...no one can say that its collapse in the early hours of last Monday morning was a surprise. But I think on this occasion it will be a watershed moment. Local hoteliers have been hit hard so I suspect that they will be ploughing their money into even better websites so that their clients can book directly and not through a tour firm.
Now, the idea and purpose of the tour operator has been killed off before but they are still key players in the industry despite the growth of online booking platforms. But local hoteliers are already saying that Thomas Cook was the last straw and they are going down the direct route.
This is certainly the way forward. With the growth of the so-called no-frills airlines and booking system local hoteliers can easily survive on their own....but having a tour firm buying up all their rooms makes their lives much easier.
So many household names in the travel industry have been lost over the years. I was working on this newspaper when Intasun collapsed leaving thousands of stranded passengers.
There was the initial cry and panic but then new companies rose up and took Intasun´s place. The travel industry was very different then. I suspect that on this occasions local hoteliers will be looking to stand alone.