Few analysts expect the industry's second-tier groups, such as First Choice, France's Club Med and Switzerland's Kuoni, to stay single for long.

ECONOMIST: Tour operators

Instead, Biggs went into the travel industry where she worked for 25 years for the upmarket operator Kuoni, rising to become managing director.

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In 1999, when she joined the board of Kuoni, she became the youngest ever director, the first female director and the first non-Swiss director.

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Kuoni, a Swiss tour operator, says it is taking new bookings for the affected regions, but they are, as expected, much lower than before.

ECONOMIST: Back to the beach?

Last weekend Kuoni sent one group to the Maldives.

ECONOMIST: Back to the beach?