Trade rues loss of Bulgaria specialist Travel Weekly reporters
The trade has paid tribute to Balkan Holidays after the Bulgaria specialist decided to cease trading in the UK a year shy of its 60th anniversary. The tour operator announced last
week that the decision had been made because it had become “increasingly difficult to be competitive and profitable in the UK”, adding that all forward bookings would be refunded and suppliers paid. Spear Travels and Idle Travel
were among the agencies with impacted clients, prompting efforts to rebook with alternative operators. Idle Travel director Tony Mann
said affected customers were contacted as soon as the news
broke and were rebooked with Jet2holidays, which also flies to Bulgaria from Leeds Bradford. Spear Travels Group managing
director Peter Cookson said the company had six live bookings with Balkan Holidays at the time. “It’s a big disappointment for
our customers, but at least it’s a full refund situation, rather than having to make claims,” he said, adding that only one of the clients so far had gone on to rebook. He said it was proving challenging
to find trips for the same price and noted clients also faced the difficulty of spending more money before their refunds had been processed. John Stewart Travel agent Joel
Grant said: “I couldn’t believe what I was reading when this was
Carnival Cruise Line to reveal plans for UK support ‘shortly’
Ella Sagar and Lucy Huxley
Agent partners of Carnival Cruise Line “will hear shortly about the plan to support UK bookings” after many confirmed they had received no formal communication since the line announced plans to close its UK office. US-based Carnival Corporation
said last month it had decided to “sunset” the office following “careful consideration of our strategic objectives for the market”. The announcement on April 17 said the closure would be “effective
4 1 MAY 2025
from May 12” but details of future plans for the UK market were not provided. Agencies this week said they had received no contact. As Travel Weekly went to press
on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the line confirmed: “Agents will be hearing shortly about the plan to support UK bookings. “We are just working
through the final processes.” Agents said agency agreements
and existing bookings did not seem to be affected, with a number saying they hoped to receive calls this week with confirmation of the process for dealing with new or existing bookings.
It is a great shame
to lose an independent operator – their sales team was so supportive of travel agents
announced – we were all quite shocked. We had roughly 10 forward bookings that we had to switch over to Jet2holidays. “We knew something was up when
Balkan started changing flights from BH Air to
Jet2.com a few weeks ago.” Gary Lewis, chief executive of
The Travel Network Group, said the news was “heartbreaking” for Balkan Holidays staff, but he praised the company for its “commendable”
decision to close its doors while still solvent to “ensure partners do not lose money”. The Advantage Travel Partnership
commercial director John Sullivan said the consortium was “truly saddened”. Westoe Travel co-owner Graeme
Brett said: “It is a great shame to lose an independent tour operator. Their packages were really good-value and their sales team, led by the amazing Lynsey Jones, was so supportive of travel agents.” Balkan Holidays UK managing
director Alexander Stoyanov said: “I am really sorry to disappoint our loyal customers and the fantastic travel agents who have booked holidays with us for this summer.” He added that redundancies
were “unavoidable”.
Carnival Legend One agent said: “We have
had no formal communication at all, though all future marketing activity has been culled. “We have plenty of forward
bookings, which we’re not expecting to be affected, but it would be fair to say agents are in the dark as to future Carnival guests.” Another agent said their company
had almost 100 forward bookings with the line and would normally have regular updates and calls with their business development manager, but had not heard anything since the closure announcement was made.
Plans to increase Carnival Cruise
Line sales through the agency had been cast into doubt by the move to shut the UK team, they added. A third agent said bookings
and contracts remained “as they were” but the retailer was “unsure” about day-to-day contact, adding that it expected future processes “were being ironed out”. A fourth agent said: “We have
not received any communication. “We are hoping to have a call
soon. Nothing seems to have changed for now, but we do need to understand what’s happening.”
travelweekly.co.uk
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