No, Hays Travel and Thomas Cook are not the same company, although their histories became permanently linked in 2019. When the original Thomas Cook Group collapsed in September 2019, Hays Travel, an independent travel agency based in Sunderland, stepped in and purchased all 555 of Thomas Cook’s physical high-street retail stores in the UK. This move saved thousands of jobs and turned Hays Travel into the largest independent travel agent in the country. Meanwhile, the Thomas Cook brand name and logo were acquired by the Fosun Tourism Group (and later the eSky Group in 2024). Today, in 2026, Thomas Cook exists primarily as an online-only travel agency with no physical storefronts. So, while you might see a Hays Travel shop in a location that used to be a Thomas Cook, they are entirely separate businesses: Hays is a massive brick-and-mortar retail success story, while Thomas Cook is a digital-first brand focused on web-based holiday bookings. They operate as competitors in the travel market rather than a single entity.