LONDON (Reuters) - British holiday company Thomas Cook (L:TCG) and France-based Club Méditerranée said they would look at sharing flights to destinations as part of a new plan underpinned by their common Chinese shareholder Fosun International (HK:0656).
Thomas Cook and Club Med on Tuesday launched a three-year strategic partnership to cover Europe which would involve the sale of Club Med holidays through Thomas Cook channels and could lead to co-operation on flights.
The closer tie-up follows recent changes in both companies' ownership.
Chinese conglomerate Fosun completed its takeover of Club Med earlier this year. Then in March, it bought a 5 percent stake in Thomas Cook as part of a deal which it said could lead to greater collaboration between the two holiday firms.
The pair, which already have a relationship in France, said that they would aim to achieve 100 million euros (70.15 million pounds)of sales of Club Med holidays through Thomas Cook channels by 2018, a jump of 60 percent on current levels.
"This partnership aims to generate strong sales growth in the European countries where Thomas Cook is present, a real opportunity for both our groups," Club Med Chairman Henri Giscard d'Estaing said.
Thomas Cook, the world's oldest travel group and Europe's no.2 holiday company behind TUI Group (L:TUIT), will report its third-quarter results on July 30, which are expected to indicate the costs to the business of cancelling holidays in Tunisia after an attack in June which killed 38 tourists.