Three senior directors of Thomas Cook Group, the tour operator created from the merger of Germany’s Thomas Cook and Britain’s MyTravel, will each receive a £1.5 million bonus after beating pre-merger synergy targets.

The payouts come as the travel agent said holidaymakers are increasingly taking advantage of the weak dollar to travel to America.

In recent weeks it has seen a 65 per cent jump in the number of dollar transactions at its foreign exchange kiosks.

But, Manny Fontenla-Novoa, chief executive, one of the three to pocket a £1.5 million bonus, said the doubling of the average purchase from $2,500 to $5,000 also suggested that more “armchair investors” were betting on a strengthening of the Greenback.

The payouts come after the company said that it expected to achieve merger synergies of €200 million (£144 million), an increase of €60 million on its previous prediction. The target for achieving the maximum bonus of £1.5 million was £125 million.

The synergies were partly based on the loss of 2,800 jobs across the combined group in the UK. In June, it announced that six British sites would be closed as well as 150 of its 950 travel agencies.

The two other directors to receive the bonus are Peter McHugh, who steps down as joint chief executive at the end of the year, and John Bloodworth, the outgoing boss of Thomas Cook UK and Ireland.

Mr Fontenla-Novoa outlined an ambitious plan to double operating profits over the next three years to €620 million, as margins increased from 2.3 per cent to 4.8 per cent. Revenue is expected to rise to €13 billion, generating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of €800 million.

Analysts suggested that a consumer downturn and rising oil prices could make it difficult for Thomas Cook to meet its targets.

However, Mr Fontenla-Novoa insisted that holidays were no longer a luxury. “People would rather put off buying a car or doing up the house than miss their main summer holiday.”

The company’s forecast increases excludes any impact from acquisitions.

Mr Fontenla-Novoa said that he was looking at “a number of interesting opportunities” to buy, particularly in fast-growing emerging markets such as Russia, while seeking local partners in countries such as China.

He said that if no big deals came to fruition the group would initiate a share buyback programme. Shareholders would be updated on progress by its interim results next June.

The company reiterated that trading for the year was in line with expectations although the shares fell by 19 1/2p to 270p due to the absence of firm news on a share buyback.

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