Budget Travel to axe 95 jobs as business falls 40%

TOUR operator Budget Travel is set to axe 95 jobs and almost half of its Irish stores by October as part of a “restructuring” process caused by a 40% drop in customers.

In the latest indication of Ireland’s growing unemployment crisis, the company told 266 workers that the cutbacks are unavoidable due to the significant drop in demand for package holidays.

Speaking after the start of a 30-day consultation process with staff, Budget Travel managing director Eugene Corcoran said up to 14 of the company’s 31 retail stores across Ireland are set to be closed within the next three months.

As a result of the move, 75 staff are set to lose their jobs while a further 20 workers are also due to be let go from the company’s head office.

“We estimate that overall demand amongst Irish tour operators is approximately 40% down on last year and our experience reflects that,” Mr Corcoran said.

“We need to restructure the business for current and future market conditions, in the context of a market where demand for holiday packages will be significantly more volatile from year-to- year than it has been in recent years,” he added.

Among the main stores expected to close as part of the move are those in Mullingar, Dundalk, Ennis, Limerick, Athlone, Tralee, Clonmel and Waterford.

The existing store on Cork’s North Main Street and further branches in Swords, Walkinstown, Finglas and Liffey Street in Dublin are also under threat, Budget Travel has confirmed.

While the travel agent has insisted the cutbacks will have no impact on any existing customers who have made a booking with the operator or who intend to do so in the coming months, the move has been criticised by unions as a further victimisation of employees at struggling firms.

At the start of the month, staff at the Thomas Cook branch on Grafton Street in Dublin were arrested after taking part in a sit-in protest against the closure of their workplace a month ahead of schedule.

Earlier this week it also emerged that the Cork- based City Travel, one of the country’s largest travel agents, had also ceased trading after 23 years in business.

The company, which specialised in long-haul travel, blamed the economic downturn and the dramatic changes in the travel trade for the decision to close down.

The company cited a 50% drop in holiday bookings since last year.