Thomas Cook Finds Niche

<B> Thomas Cook Finds Niche</B>

By Cheryl Rosen

With the introduction of the euro about to impact its huge currency conversion business, the United Kingdom's Thomas Cook Group is carving out a new strategy and a new image as a single source of travel and emergency assistance to global travelers.

The euro and the spread of corporate cards beyond their North American roots have been a one-two punch for a company that was arguably the very first player in global travel services. Currently, about 35 percent of the group's revenues come from currency conversions, and it is number two in the travelers checks market, said Mike Hughes, senior vice president of operations and CIO. But both those markets are shrinking fast as Europe moves to the euro and travelers increasingly hit the local ATM instead of toting travelers checks from home.

"With two of our major product lines about to fall off the cliff," Hughes said, Thomas Cook this summer branched into a new niche, "a comprehensive, multilingual global traveler service open 24 by 365." Corporate customers who subscribe to the service receive a unique phone number for their travelers that will be answered by call center staffers in their native language.