Christi and Bobby Shepherd died in Corfu, GreeceA report into the deaths of two children on a Thomas Cook holiday to Corfu in 2006 reveals that the tour operator has a tendency to “protect cost rather than maximise the customer experience.” Bobby and Christi Shepherd were aged six and seven when they were overcome by carbon monoxide fumes from a faulty boiler. The children were on holiday with their parents and died at the Louis Corcyra Beach Hotel on the Greek holiday island of Corfu.
Justin King, the former Sainsbury’s chief executive who conducted the assessment, said that the travel industry must provide consumers with better information about their rights and the standards they should expect when they travel abroad.
“The industry has a collective responsibility to help its customers identify real value for money – not just the lowest price,” he said.
“It took us nine years to correct the mistakes of the past and to do what everyone would have expected of us; treat the family with the respect and empathy they deserve. We had to learn from this tragedy and do things differently, and this remains our commitment,” said, Peter Fankhauser, chief executive of Thomas Cook.
