Fosun Tourism Group bought Intourist

The Chinese company Fosun Tourism Group will now own the Russian Intourist, according to a press release from the current owner of the tour operator, the British Thomas Cook Group. Thomas Cook itself bought Intourist from AFK Sistema in 2018.

Under the terms of the announced deal, the Chinese company receives a controlling stake in the travel division of Thomas Cook, as well as a minority stake in its subsidiary airline. Fosun Tourism will pay $940 million for this. Fosun was already a large (18%) shareholder of Thomas Cook, the reorganization with its participation should attract wealthy Chinese tourists.

Quote. "While this is not the outcome you would want from shareholders, the (Fosun Tourism Group) proposal is a pragmatic and responsible decision that will secure the future of Thomas Cook for our customers and our people," chief executive Peter Fankhauser said.

Thomas Cook is the oldest travel company in the world (founded in 1841), but is now unprofitable: in March 2019, Thomas Cooks debt was about $2.4 billion. As of this summer, a quarter of tours remain unsold. At the same time, Thomas Cook's tourism division remains one of the largest in the world: it annually serves 11 million tourists with the help of 21 thousand employees.

• In addition to Intourist, a British company in Russia bought the tour operator Biblio Globus. The purchase could cost her $150 million in total, but it has not yet been certified.
• Chinese companies are actively absorbing Western firms in the tourism sector. Thus, the Chinese online travel company Ctrip.com International bought the Scotland-based flight search service Skyscanner for $1.74 billion in 2016.