Thomas Cook Plc Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Thomas Cook Plc - Case Study Example Thomas Cool was a former Baptist minister and a very religious man and he firmly believed that alcohol was the major factor casing problems among the working class in England. It was with this in mind that the above-mentioned train journey was arranged. The first unofficial tour was this trip in open carriages, which took nearly 500 temperance supporters to Loughborough, and back in July 5, 1841. In 1845 Thomas Cook organized a tour to Liverpool which was accompanied by what must have been the first tour brochure ever printed in the world. His first international venture was to Paris during the time of an international exhibition which was held there. Further tours to other cities in Europe began and an established tour itinerary began to fall in place. A tour to Switzerland and later to Italy was conducted in 1864. With his clientele shifting from working class to middle and upper class passengers, Mr. Cook began to make arrangements with hotels in Europe by using something called t he hotel coupon. This enabled tourists to pay for the hotel rooms in advance and to stay at hotels without paying cash. Another innovation was the circular note, the forerunner of 'travellers cheque.' Trips to the US soon followed and later a trip by steamer up the river Nile was also arranged. All this success naturally led to thoughts of expanding further overseas to the US and Asia. Mr Cook himself was part of a trial world tour which covered the US, Japan, China, Singapore, Ceylon and India. This tour went on to become an annual event in the company's tour calendar.. An unexpected move by the then two owners saw the company being sold off to a Belgian tour operator called Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits et des Grands Express Europens in 1928. Certain events during the world war saw the company near collapse and a deal was made where by the ownership changed back to British hands, this time by the government owned railway companies. Even though the company could benefit from the post war travel boom, things began to slow down by 1955 due to the emergence of new and dynamic tour operators. In 1972, Thomas Cook became privately owned once again through a purchase by a c onsortium of the Midland Bank, Trust House Forte and the Automobile Association. The famous red logo of Thomas Cook was introduced during this time. The company did well during this period and even managed to survive the 1970's depression. The Company came under the sole ownership of the Midland's Bank in 1980 and again sold of to Germany's third largest bank, Westdeutsche Landesbank (WestLB) and LTU group (an airline charter company). Thomas Cook later became the subsidiary of the German bank and soon acquisitions of Sun World, Time Off and Flying Colours took place. In 1999 a merger with Calrlsons Liesrue Group took place. The Company Thomas Cook Group PLC was formed in June 2007 through a merger of Thomas Cook AG and My Travel Group Plc. "It is now part of Thomas Cook Group plc (www.thomascookgroup.com) which was formed on June 19th 2007 by the merger of Thomas Cook AG and My Travel Group plc." (A Brief History). Business Strategy: Corporate growth strategy: The merger of Thomas Cook and My Travel has resulted in a very powerful tour operating company and has a string presence in UK and some European countries. This merger came about so that both the companies could compete more efficiently in a

Bride kidnapping and wedding in Kyrgyzstan Essay - 1

Bride kidnapping and wedding in Kyrgyzstan - Essay Example However, in some of the communities and societies across the globe, traditions remain traditions and as such, continue to define the social engagements among the people. A common and widespread practice entailed in the society that continues to hold a deeply rooted objection to modern view and practices is the entity of marriage. Marriage in the modern customization is a mutual agreement among the partners and is highly reliant on the consent of the participants (Werner 316). However, in other communities, marriage remains a form of social interaction in which relates to â€Å"slavery† depiction of this institutional formulation, which ensures the continual of the community. The practice is bride kidnapping, in which the women entailed face remarkable challenges, with a minority of the cases represented expressing the exception that they do become happy in the marriages that result through bride kidnapping (Werner 318). A particular case in which bride kidnapping remains highl y practiced is Kyrgyzstan. The practice of bride kidnapping is highly evident, despite the establishment that the law in the country does forbid the activities entailed in bride kidnapping. Alakachuu, as the approach of finding and establishing marriage spouses is called in Kyrgyzstan entails a grab and run technique, which is highly similar to the criminal kidnapping practices that criminals practice (Smith 1). However, in this case of this ancient practice, the case is socially acceptable and remains an ancient cultural practice in which the victims and the family thereof have no objection towards its practice. The practice of marriage in ancient Kyrgyzstan entailed the parents establishing spouses for their children and planning the entire course leading to eventual â€Å"planned marriages† (Toursunof, and Aigul 1). However, as the society evolved