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Bourne Leisure brands exit travel trade
Bourne Leisure brands Butlin’s, Haven and Warner Leisure Hotels are to stop selling via travel agents as part of a shake-up of the three businesses.
The company gave its agency partners notice this morning.
A spokesperson said the move was part of organisational and operational changes, which will also affect its Hemel Support Centre as well as its parks, resorts and hotels.
In future, each of the three brands will operate as a separate business.
In a statement, Bourne said: "We have had to make some difficult choices over the last few months and one of these is unfortunately the decision to exit the travel trade.
"This has not been an easy decision especially as we know that our colleagues in the trade have also suffered as a result of the pandemic and we hugely value the relationships we have had for many years with these partners and thank them for their support.
"However, at this time we need to focus our investment in other areas of guest sales and communication."
It said the transition period would start immediately. Some agents are understood to be on a three-month notice period.
"We will have a team in place to manage any travel trade enquiries until the end of February and any holidays that have already been booked for 2021 and any booked during the transition period will continue as planned and each of our brands will honour any current booking," added Bourne.
As a result of the decision to end trade sales, some roels will be axed it confirmed. "We are working where possible to redeploy people within the business but we are currently in the process of consultation and therefore the details on redundancies must remain confidential," it said.
"The consultation process will also result in role creation and new role assignment but again, these details remain confidential and cannot be released at this time."
Trade sales across all three brands were up 5% in 2018 when they handled a record four million guests.
But Bourne said the Covid-19 pandemic has had a ‘seismic effect on the tourism and hospitality sector, forcing it to make changes to ensure its future success.
By Linsey McNeill, Editor (UK)
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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