Budget cuts sign of times

IT’S a sign of the times that Irish tour operators are having to trim down operations to stay in business.

A well-known long-established Cork city travel agent, has closed down and one of the country’s largest tour operators, Budget, has had to curtail operations, hot on the heels of the Thomas Cook pull-out.

Budget Travel is reducing its cost base in a volatile market and, sadly, a key part of that restructuring will be to drive more bookings through the internet, thereby leading to more job losses.