Cooking up rugby deals

THOMAS COOK SPORT is about to launch a series of package deals on the Irish market for next year’s British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa.

One of the official licensed operators for the tour, Thomas Cook has huge experience of sports packages across a number of codes, and the presence of numerous travel shops in Ireland is expected to yield the company a sizeable chunk of this business.

When the Lions last toured South Africa in 1997, there were 10,000 supporters. Last time out, three years ago in New Zealand, over 35,000 fans made the trip.