Group has gone to get 248.4 million pounds in operating profit before tax 2006, to 249.3 million pounds, representing an increase of 5% in the same fiscal year. With these data, TUI Travel continues to be the European leader in turnover and operating profit (Spasić, 2012). As for the division of UK and Ireland, operating profit fell by 31% from the 113.8 million made in 2006 to 78.2 million pounds. Thomson contributed to these losses at 27 million pounds due to the strong competition in the airline business and the bad results obtained with some routes that were not profitable. Other key factors in the loss Profitability in the British division have been the sharp increase in oil prices and the government's decision to double the tax on passengers traveling by plane, the APD (Air Passenger Duty) (Bhatia, …show more content…
The Big 4 includes Airtours, TUI, Thomas Cook and Crystal Holidays. One of the basic objectives of travel and tourism business is to move along with greater incorporation. It happens when companies join hands together in terms of mergers and takeovers in order to operate greater functions. There are some bigger companies as well that fulfil economies of scale, which is based on expenses or costs that lower and that can earn profit. Moreover, vertical integration is when organisations integrate various levels of distribution chain. However, when tour operators buy travel agency, it is recognised as forward vertical integration. Moreover, a tour operator obtains an airline, which is recognised as backward vertical integration (Ball et al.,