As we were heading for drinks at the farewell party of this year’s ABTA Travel Convention, I caught up with the organisation’s chief executive Mark Tanzer and asked him about Hays Travel buying Thomas Cook shops.

“It’s a good thing for those working in those Thomas Cook shops,” Tanzer told me before he hurried back to his group.

Meanwhile, it seems that the news did not travel fast enough when I asked other attendees obvious with their puzzled looks and raised eyebrows. However, they said that it is great for former Thomas Cook staff to be able to get back in the travel industry.

TD reported that Hays Travel will buy all 555 Thomas Cook shops that could potentially save 2,500 jobs.

The recent demise of the UK’s oldest travel agent left 9,000 members of the staff unemployed.

ABTA LifeLine is pooling funds to assist former Thomas Cook employees. At the time of this writing, the organisation managed to pool GBP 70,000 thanks to the generous donations of attendees.

It seems that ABTA’s prayers have been answered as the organisation wished for the skilled staff of Thomas Cook to be able to get back on their feet as soon as possible.

As all good things come to an end, this year’s ABTA Travel Convention bids goodbye to the amazing city of Tokyo and will be heading to Morrocco next year.