Its full year results released today are a mixed bag – an £98 million year-on-year improvement in underlying EBIT to £323 million but still a net loss of £115 million – and are being overshadowed in mainstream media by the shock departure of CEO Harriett Green and the resulting share price collapse.
Within this context, the digital transformation of the business is not getting the attention it deserves. Green was the driving force behind the modernisation of Thomas Cook, and it appears that everything is now place for it to reach the tipping point of 50% for web penetration during the next year.
This is a very bold target – for 2014 web penetration across the group came in at 38% – below its target of more than 40% – so getting to 50%+ this time next year means it needs to grow by nearly one-third.