Thomas Cook is talks with Chinese conglomerate Fosun over the potential sale of its tour operator business.

The struggling British travel agent confirmed negotiations were taking place after speculation mounted over the weekend paving the way for a break-up of the company. Shares in Thomas Cook surged 14 per cent on Monday after the news.

Fosun is already Thomas Cook's largest shareholder and also owns the Club Med brand, along with Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club.

Thomas Cook posted a £1.5bn half-year loss last month and said there was "little doubt" that Brexit had prompted customers to put off their holiday plans.

The company's share price has fallen precipitously over the past year, prompting chief executive Peter Funkhauser to tell The Independent last month that customers' holidays were safe.

National Geographic Travel Photo Contest: Week six entries Show all 10 1 /10 National Geographic Travel Photo Contest: Week six entries National Geographic Travel Photo Contest: Week six entries nat-geo-travel-6-9.jpg IF YOU TOUCH THE RHINOCEROS, THE LIGHTNING WILL TOUCH YOU. This is my very first-time visit Africa and captures wildlife. There had a group of rhinoceros drank water in a Waterhole at a lighting night. I captured over 10000+ photos to got this shot to show the relationship of nature and wildlife. Which wildlife is a part of the environment, we should not treat them as a tool and we should protect it. Kelvin Yuen National Geographic Travel Photo Contest: Week six entries nat-geo-travel-6-4.jpg Oruro Carnival is BoliviaÃ­s most sought after tourist attraction, drawing crowds of up to 400,000 people annually. Whilst the festival is celebrated throughout most of the country, Oruro is without doubt the most popular~ Chen Kyo National Geographic Travel Photo Contest: Week six entries nat-geo-travel-6-3.jpg A unique vantage point of both Tower Bridge and Tower of London as they are touched by the 1st morning light. Nara Leite National Geographic Travel Photo Contest: Week six entries nat-geo-travel-6-10.jpg migrating wildebeest leap into the river, frantically trying to reach the banks on the other side. many survive the journey, but some are eaten by crocodiles, Penny Hegyi National Geographic Travel Photo Contest: Week six entries nat-geo-travel-6-8.jpg During weeks of national days, people living in singapore hang their flag in front of their apartments. Nowadays, more than 80% singapore's population living in apartment built by the government called hdb. This scene captured from the very old hdb built in singapore. Tong Son National Geographic Travel Photo Contest: Week six entries nat-geo-travel-6-2.jpg Every morning at the Kumbh Mela in India, pilgrims walk across the Ganges River on temporary pontoon bridges to get to Triveni Sangam. Sangam, for short, is the convergence of the Ganges, the Yamuna, and the mythical river Saraswati. This sacred spot of the river is where the elixir of immortality fell from the Gods and landed. Millions come from all over India to bathe and cleanse their soul in Sangam. Agathe Bernard National Geographic Travel Photo Contest: Week six entries nat-geo-travel-6-5.jpg You barely catch a glimpse of the iron Lady for a few seconds, while passing through Bir Hakeim and Passy stations. I don't even remember the number of trips I did between these stations in one hour just for views like these, it was no ordinary journey. In between, I spotted this French man sitting inside, just before boarding and I knew I had a story to tell. Raghav Sethi National Geographic Travel Photo Contest: Week six entries nat-geo-travel-6-6.jpg The Nam Pan Market is a 5-day rotating market and the largest market located on Inle Lake. We were lucky enough to be there filming during this. So cool to see the crazy cluster of boats come in and out, felt the perfect timelapse from the drone moment! Toby Harriman National Geographic Travel Photo Contest: Week six entries nat-geo-travel-6-7.jpg A flash shot in a Train from Milano to Swiss. Jason Jiang National Geographic Travel Photo Contest: Week six entries nat-geo-travel-6-1.jpg Tawaf is one of the Islamic rituals of pilgrimage. During the Hajj and Umrah, Muslims are to go around the Kaaba seven times, in a counter clockwise direction . During Tawaf pilgrims try to touch and kiss the Black stone of Kaaba also know as Hajar Al Aswad and also pray on the Station of Ibrahim to pray two rak'ahs of nafl prayer. MD Tanveer Rohan

“I fully understand if a customer is worried about his holiday with us, given all the noise that we have seen around us,” he said.

“But I can really reassure our customers that their holidays are safe.

“We have ample resources to operate our business through this difficult time.”

Thomas Cook's board will "consider any potential offer" for the tour operator arm but any sale to Fosun would not include Thomas Cook's airline arm, due to EU rules.

The travel company has issued three profit warnings in a year and has been looking to offload it airline division since the start of 2019.

Private equity outfit Triton Partners has put in a bid for Thomas Cook's Scandinavian arm.