Tui plans 48 more high street store closures

Tui is planning to close 48 more retail stores in the UK.

The UK’s biggest tour operator said the travel industry and the high street “are both facing unprecedented pressure” due to the coronavirus pandemic.

All 273 employees affected by the decision will be offered new roles in other locations, it added.

This comes after Tui announced in July last year that 166 shops closed due to the virus crisis would not reopen, which was nearly a third of its total.

The firm is not publishing a list of the latest potential store closures.

But it issued a statement which read: “We want to be in the best position to provide excellent customer service, whether it’s in a high street store, over the telephone or online, and will continue to put the customer at the heart of what we do.

“It is therefore imperative that we make these difficult cost decisions and do our best to look after our colleagues during such unprecedented uncertainty.

“We believe Covid-19 has only strengthened a change in purchasing habits, with people looking to buy online or wishing to speak with travel experts from the comfort of their own home.

“We have world class travel advisors at Tui, so we hope many of them will become homeworkers and continue to offer the personalised service we know our customers value.”

The travel industry has been badly hit by Government restrictions and the collapse in demand during the pandemic.

Tui is unable to send people from the UK on holiday due to lockdown restrictions.

The Anglo-German firm’s revenues in the three months to the end of 2020 fell from 3.86 billion euros (£3.39 billion) to just 468.1 million euros (£410 million) – a drop of 88%.