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旅游公司
Horrible holidays
糟糕的假期
The holiday business is in trouble. Firms are merging like Brits in Benidorm
旅游業身陷困境，各公司正忙于兼并
EUROPE'S travel industry has had four terrible years: a recession, an Icelandic volcano, unrest in the Middle East, costly oil, a weak dollar and a widespread sense of malaise.
歐洲的旅游行業已經經歷了四年的低谷：經濟衰退、冰島火山噴發、中東騷亂、昂貴的油價、貶值的美元以及普遍疲軟的經濟。
People want to get away from it all, but worry that they can't afford to.
人們想要擺脫這些，卻又擔心無力承擔。
Airlines, hotels and cruise ships have all suffered, but the worst-hit are the tour operators.
航空公司，酒店以及度假巡游船都受到了牽連，但受影響最大的還是旅游公司。
To survive, they have merged and cut costs.
他們通過兼并和削減開支來維持生存。
In 2007 Thomas Cook, a German-owned travel firm, took over MyTravel, a British rival, to create Europe's second-biggest package-tour firm. A couple of months later Hanover-based TUI,
德國的Thomas Cook旅游公司在2007年收購了其英國的競爭對手My Travel，從而組建了歐洲第二大的旅游服務公司。幾個月后，
Europe's biggest travel company, merged its travel business with First Choice, another British package-holiday company, to create TUI Travel, a company based in London and listed on the London Stock Exchange.
歐洲最大的旅游公司，總部位于漢諾威的途易與英國的另一家旅游服務公司 First Choice合并了其旅游業務，從而成立了途易旅游。途易旅游的總部位于倫敦，并于倫敦證交所上市。
Both package-holiday giants cut capacity by as much as 25% in the following years.
兩家旅游服務巨頭在接下來的幾年里縮小規模高達25%。
Yet mergers and downsizing have provided only temporary relief.
然而整合與縮小規模只是緩兵之計。
On August 3rd Holidays 4 UK, a tour operator specialising in trips to Turkey, went bankrupt, leaving 12,800 holidaymakers stranded.
八月三日，只提供土耳其旅行服務的旅游公司Holidays 4 UK宣布破產，造成了12,800名度假者的滯留。
On the same day, Manny Fontenla-Novoa, the boss of Thomas Cook, was forced out of his job after three profit warnings in 12 months.
就在同一天，托馬斯?庫克的老板Manny Fontenla-Novoa在公司接到了12個月來的第三個利潤預警后被迫離職。
His replacement will have a big job on his hands.
擺在他繼任者面前的將是一項艱苦的工作。
In the nine months to June, Thomas Cook lost $326.1m before tax.
從去年九月到今年六月的九個月期間托馬斯?庫克的稅前損失達3.261億美元
TUI Travel is perking up a bit.
不過途易旅游正逐步恢復活力。
Its pre-tax losses fell to ￡355m in the nine months to June, from ￡563m for the same period last year.
它從去年同期5.63億英鎊的稅前損失降到六月來的3.55億英鎊。
On August 10th it reported a 57% increase in its “underlying operating profits”, a figure that excludes planeloads of supposedly one-off costs.
八月十號它宣布其“實際營業利潤”增長了57%，這一數據還不包括大量可能的一次性花費。
TUI Travel has several advantages.
途易旅游還是有些優勢的。
It is less centralised than Thomas Cook, more flexible and better managed.
它不像托馬斯?庫克那樣高度集中化，相比之下更加靈活，管理得也更好。
It sells fewer holidays in the turbulent Middle East.
它在政局不穩的中東地區組織的線路并不多。
And its margins are buoyed by its focus on fancy holidays rather than bargain booze-ups on beery beaches.
利潤來自于倍受重視的精品套餐路線，而不是便宜的沙灘啤酒派對。
Even so, a spokeswoman for TUI Travel admits that the high oil price is a worry.
盡管如此，途易旅游的發言人承認昂貴的油價的確令人擔憂。
TUI Travel owns 143 aircraft.
途易旅游擁有143架飛機。
The company was fully hedged for oil-price volatility this year but next year it is expecting a 30% increase in its fuel bill.
今年該公司采取了嚴密的措施以防油價動蕩，但明年它的燃油預算預計將增長30%。
Its French business is suffering because of political unrest in France's former African colonies, which are a favourite destination for French holidaymakers.
它在法國的業務也因原法屬非洲殖民地的政治動蕩而遭受了不小的損失，而這些地區恰恰是法國人熱衷的度假勝地。
TUI Travel is now planning to merge its French operations to create one brand in the hope that this will turn around its weakest unit.
途易旅游現在正計劃把旗下的法國業務合并成一個品牌，希望以此來拯救那些經營慘淡的分支。
The traditional tour operators' business model is out of date, says Jamie Rollo of Morgan Stanley, a bank.
“傳統旅游公司的運營模式已經過時了，”摩根史坦利投資銀行的杰米?羅洛說道，
Their fixed costs are high.
他們的固有成本很高。
They book flights and rooms months in advance, and still have to pay for them even if a volcano or terrorist forces travellers to cancel.
他們需要提前幾個月預定機票和房間，并且即使火山噴發或是恐怖襲擊導致旅行取消他們也仍需支付這些費用。
And although they now do a lot of business online, they struggle to compete with cheaper online-only firms such as Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz.
盡管現在他們盡管現在他們很多業務在網上進行，但卻很難與那些如Expedia，Travelocity以及Orbit等這些更加便宜且只做網上服務的旅游公司相匹敵。
Further consolidation is likely.
進一步的整合是可能的。
Germany's package-tour market is still fragmented and lucrative, so REWE Touristik and others might soon be snapped up.
德國的旅游服務市場仍然較為零散并十分有利可圖，所以像REWE Touristik一類的旅游公司很快就會變得十分搶手。
TUI Travel and Thomas Cook might even merge, creating a giant and saving plenty of money.
途易旅游和托馬斯?庫克甚至可能合并，以成為行業巨頭并進一步節省資金。
Alternatively, one of these two big boys might marry a low-cost airline, linking cheap flights with cheap beds.
或者，這兩個大塊頭之一會兼并一家低成本的航空公司，形成一條完整的低價住宿低價機票產業鏈。
In the short run Thomas Cook's new boss will have to improve the company's dire finances.
短期來看，托馬斯?庫克的新任老板首先要做的就是改善公司糟糕的財務狀況。
The firm is planning to sell assets worth ￡200m over the next six to 18 months, including some or all of its seven hotels.
公司計劃在接下來的6到18個月期間賣掉價值2億英鎊的資產，包括部分甚至全部其7家酒店。
Its chief financial officer says that an equity issue is not on the cards, at least for now.
它的財務總監表示至少目前還不打算發行股票。
He may have to change his mind. Holidays are supposed to be relaxing, but for the firms that provide them, they are anything but.
他將來也許會改變主意。假期本應該是令人放松的，但對于那些提供這項服務的公司來說，情況就恰恰相反了。
