Budget to shed 95 staff as bookings drop 30%

IRELAND’S BIGGEST tour operator is set to lay off more than one in three of its workers after a slump in bookings that has left it facing a €5 million loss this year.

Budget Travel announced yesterday that it intends laying off 95 of its 266 staff and closing 14 of its 31 shops around the State following a 30 per cent-plus fall in the number of package holidays it booked this year.

The company briefed staff yesterday afternoon before issuing a statement saying it is beginning a 30-day consultation period with them to discuss plans for a “very significant” restructuring of the business.

A spokesman stressed that anyone who has booked holidays with the company will not be affected by the plans. “There is absolutely no risk to anyone who has booked with us,” he said.

Budget intends laying off 75 people across its retail network and a further 20 from its head office. Managing director Eugene Corcoran said yesterday that demand had fallen substantially across the Irish travel business.

Overall, business is down 40 per cent, and Budget calculates that its bookings have fallen off by about 33 per cent. This year, it expects bookings to reach 180,000, compared to 270,000 in 2008.

As a result of the sharp drop, Budget expects to lose €5 million in 2009. Its accounts for 2008 show profit for the year was €3.96 million, largely in line with the surplus it earned in 2007.

Mr Corcoran pointed out that, in the current climate, demand for package holidays would be more volatile from year to year than it had been recently.

He also signalled that the nature of the business was changing. “We’re going to increase our investment in our internet offering because our customers are demonstrating a clear preference for internet bookings and we’ve got to reshape our retail business to reflect that.

“The key to the future is to have a business model that has maximum flexibility to respond to volatile demand while remaining profitable,” he said.

The company is closing five shops in Dublin: Liffey Street, Swords, Finglas, Northside Shopping Centre and Walkinstown.

The other shops earmarked for closure are: Athlone (Golden Island), Clonmel (Market Place), Cork (North Main Street), Dundalk (Carroll Village), Ennis (Ennis Shopping Centre), Limerick (Crescent Shopping Centre), Mullingar (Harbour Place Shopping Centre), Tralee (Ashe Street), Waterford (Barronstrand Street).

Scandinavian group Primera owns Budget Travel having bought the Irish company from TUI for €10 million about two years ago.

Budget’s founder, Gillian Bowler, who chairs retail bank Irish Life & Permanent, has had no involvement with the business for ore than two years.