Traveland retires

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Topic author
Whynd1
First Officer
First Officer
Posts: 1832
Joined: February 2013
Location: Gower, Swansea

Traveland retires

#1

Post by Whynd1 »

My travel agent, a cruise only specialist has retired after 37 years. They were based in Porthcawl in South Wales.
I received an email late this afternoon, after only speaking to them yesterday.
It seems with all the current uncertainty the directors have decided to retire and close the business.
I feel so sad for all the staff, I have been booking and travelling with them for 20 years.

Our bookings will now be passed over to P and O.
This virus has s lot to answer for.

Lindsey

.

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barney
Deputy Captain
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Posts: 5605
Joined: March 2013
Location: Instow Devon

Re: Traveland retires

#2

Post by barney »

What a shame for them and those who have lost their jobs Lindsey.
Many don’t seem to care about actual shops anymore and use online to get it a fiver cheaper.
Survival of the fittest apparently, until all competition is eliminated, then Amazon can rule the world.
Empty vessels .. and all that

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Kendhni
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Posts: 6520
Joined: January 2013

Re: Traveland retires

#3

Post by Kendhni »

Whynd1 wrote: 10 Nov 2020, 20:30
This virus has a lot to answer for.
Always sad to hear of established businesses closing up. However, as I have said before, we are no longer living in the 20th century and businesses must evolve or they will be lost. It must be hard to compete when it is easy to find discounts from online competitors that do not have the same overheads and savvy shoppers pushing harder for discounts - but that is the way the market is going. We have just booked 2 cruises for 2022 and Julie chose to use one of the high street agents because a friend works there - at least we still got a token discount (otherwise I would have been peeved).

It is possible that there is a lot more than just the 'virus' that is driving such decisions - undoubtedly there will be other personal, social and economic drivers involved. I suspect the 'virus' is just the straw that broke the camels back and we will be hearing many more similar stories over the next few months. I have a couple of friends who are also talking about winding their high street businesses up if Christmas trade does not live up to their expectations - between them they employ about 40 people - it will be interesting to see if they 'retire' or keep going online.

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Jan Rosser
Senior First Officer
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Posts: 2406
Joined: January 2013
Location: South Wales

Re: Traveland retires

#4

Post by Jan Rosser »

Whynd1 wrote: 10 Nov 2020, 20:30
My travel agent, a cruise only specialist has retired after 37 years. They were based in Porthcawl in South Wales.
I received an email late this afternoon, after only speaking to them yesterday.
It seems with all the current uncertainty the directors have decided to retire and close the business.
I feel so sad for all the staff, I have been booking and travelling with them for 20 years.

Our bookings will now be passed over to P and O.
This virus has s lot to answer for.

Lindsey

.
Gosh they’ve been around forever and will be missed by their loyal clientele. I’d often see their coaches when I travelled down to Southampton - it was a 5* experience with them but unfortunately times have changed. For years I used Gerry Latham in Wellfield Road in Cardiff who provided a similar service but not on the same scale - pick up in a mini bus at the door and drop off at the docks with a lunch on the way. Sadly they were taken over years ago but one of their staff moved to online working with Hays and so I have used him ever since and he is fantastic. Unfortunately at the moment all I seem to be doing is cancelling and moving cruises :(
Janis


Topic author
Whynd1
First Officer
First Officer
Posts: 1832
Joined: February 2013
Location: Gower, Swansea

Re: Traveland retires

#5

Post by Whynd1 »

Yes when I first started going with Traveland you were treated to a lovely lunch at the Hilton hotel in Newbury. This was endore P and O introduced the loyalty on board nibbles.
Always done the door to door travel even thoughnit wasnt cheap.
Will have to loo, at Eavesway mow, it just wont be the same.
Am feeling very sad at the loss of the company and the lovely staff losing their jobs.


Topic author
Whynd1
First Officer
First Officer
Posts: 1832
Joined: February 2013
Location: Gower, Swansea

Re: Traveland retires

#6

Post by Whynd1 »

Just had a phone call from Traveland thanking me for my custom over the years.
Nice touch.

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