TUI Travel Could Close 150 Shops

[dollybird]

Tui Travel could close up to 150 shops over the next five years as it looks to reduce its retail estate as more customers book holidays on the internet.

The operator said there were currently “no plans for a mass closure of shops” but expected to “slowly consolidate” its current portfolio of 855 Thomson and First Choice agencies in the UK.

Tui’s chief financial officer Will Waggott said there was a trend for more online bookings which would mean a reduction in shops. Currently 40% of Tui’s UK sales are online and the company expects this to grow.

“We will have fewer shops as the trend is significantly moving online,” Waggott said. “In five years, we will probably have 100 fewer shops and it might be as high as 150.”

Waggott also questioned Thomas Cook’s merger with The Co-operative Travel, which will create the biggest retail chain of 1,200 shops.

“To be growing a retail estate at this time feels a bit odd,” added Waggott. “We will never have zero shops, but we will not be growing, we will be shrinking.”

Tui said it will look at shops’ profitability as their leases came up - 20-25% of current leases are due for renewal in the next five years.

Chief executive Peter Long stressed Tui would keep a lot of these shops but the decision would be based on the margin generated by each outlet when leases came up.

“There’s a natural break in our shop leases and that’s a benefit to us,” added Long.

Meanwhile Cook has denied a report that it was considering closing “hundreds” of UK shops following the merger.

A Cook spokeswoman dismissed the report as “speculation” and having “no substance”.

So far, Cook has said it is likely to close 75 shops following the merger.

TTG Digital

[barnsfield]

This doesn't surprise me at all. It's certainly the way things seem to be going..............although there'll always be a role for travel agencies/call centres for those who have no interest in the internet.

[Thailand 2+2]

One, has to question the source of the report (and I dont mean dollybird Chris, of course) but also question the motives of the reporter, and whether they they actually researched it themselves, (rare in this day and age!) or whether they took the easy option and simply copied it from a preprinted media handout.

At first glance it looks like an admission of defeat by TUI. But read it again, and it is a subtle TUI led attack on Thomas Cook and Co-op travels future aspirations for the travel industry, in the light of their merger.

Peter.

[Cyfreithwr]

It would be a real blessing if words such as could, would , might, may etc could be banned from the English language or at least journalistic
practice. They tend to give credence to the oft quoted saying - "If pigs could fly - we would have to shoot for pork"

An excellent response and analysis by Peter above.