Thomas Cook aims to put the squeeze on accommodation suppliers by capitalising on its strength as the second-largest operator in Europe.

Announcing Cook’s full-year results this week, chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa (pictured) said one of the main goals for 2010 was to cut accommodation costs by 5-7%.

During the 12 months to the end of September 2009, the company spent about 33% (£3.1 billion) of its total group revenue on accommodation.

Fontenla-Novoa said the operator was looking at a series of initiatives to increase revenue, profits and margins.

“These include centralising accommodation purchasing in order to leverage the scale of our group buying power in mainstream travel,” he said.

Pushing down hotel costs will be one of the main tasks for Pete Constanti in his newly-created role of chief executive for group destination management.

Constanti, who was previously chief executive for mainstream travel UK, will have responsibility for hotel purchasing and agent relationships.

Cook revealed it also planned to expand financial services in the UK. These could include introducing its own ATM machines, which would dispense pounds and euros without charging commission, and prepaid foreign currency cards.

Other moves unveiled include a restructuring of Cook’s independent business and an expansion of internet-based operations.

Operating profit for Cook’s UK business grew by 13% to £162.2 million and margin increased from 4.6% to 5.2%.

Cook said the increased profitability was down to a focus on medium-haul destinations and all-inclusive resorts as well as capacity flexibility and growth in share of foreign exchange sales.

Fontenla-Novoa added: “Looking ahead, the late booking trend is still evident but our winter 2009-10 trading position continues to improve and trend towards our planned capacity.

“Although it is still early in the cycle, bookings for summer 2010 are also in line with our expectations.

“Recent customer research shows UK consumers remain intent on taking their holidays abroad next summer, and we continue to see strong growth in bookings to medium-haul destinations such as Turkey and Egypt.”