From the BBC to Sky News, and multiple national newspapers, PR stunt or not (and Thomas Cook insists very much not), the travel giant’s “Choose your favourite sunbed” service, which enables customers to pre-book their lounger location at a cost of £22 per stay, garnered the sort of media attention most companies can only dream of.

Among agents it received a mixed – and much debated – reception. More than 400 readers took part in a TTG poll on the issue, with 65% agreeing the scheme was an extra cost and stress that it would be unlikely to appeal to customers. And Cook’s confirmation to TTG that the new service is not commissionable is unlikely to help in convincing these sceptics.

The news was also a hot topic of discussion at a CIM Travel Group Question Time event I joined this week. As discussions raged on the most effective ways to target customers in 2018, one member of the audience raised their hand and enquired innocuously what the panel thought of Cook’s new sun lounger scheme. For panellists, the answer was easy – they agreed the scheme was great for families by removing the early morning sunbed dash. But as one panellist pointed out, it didn’t really matter either way. The success of the campaign was not in the concept itself, but in the fact the panel was talking about it.

Whether you like Cook’s sunbed scheme or not, it can be no bad thing to have the media featuring lighthearted holiday stories in prime position during peaks – it is, after all, the media equivalent of securing the poolside sunlounger by the bar.