Travel agents Travelplanners with offices in Southsea and Waterlooville goes into liquidation after 45 years

Travelplanners which had branches in Wilton Place Southsea and in The Precinct Waterlooville, posted the announcement to its website this morning.

It said: ‘It is with deep regret that the directors of Travelplanners Southsea Limited, after 45 years of trading as Travelplanners have taken the heart-breaking decision to cease trading and go into liquidation.

‘This is entirely due to the effects of the global pandemic which has decimated the travel industry over the past two years.

‘We have always endeavoured to provide the best service to our clients but unfortunately we are faced with difficult circumstances beyond our control.

‘The matter is currently being dealt with by FRP Advisory Trading Limited and any queries should be directed to 020 8302 4344.

‘In addition you may contact them at [email protected].

‘We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our loyal customers for their support over the past 45 years. We fully appreciate your help and assistance and hope you will understand that the decision to cease was due to circumstances beyond our control.’

Travelplanners was a family business founded in 1956 by Julia and David Barnard and for the past 30 years has been run by their son Myron.

The travel agents used to be based in Marmion Road, but moved to a new office in Wilton Place in 2016.

The travel industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic with blanket travel bans coming in to stop the spread of the virus.

Advantage, the UK’s largest travel agent consortium, and Travel Gossip, the online agent community, conducted research that showed 61 per cent of travel agencies would run out of cash by the end of 2020.

They also predicted that a further 27 per cent would run out of cash in the first half of this year – meaning 88 per cent of surveyed agencies would have gone out of business.

Big names such as STA Travel, a long-haul flight specialist with more than 50 shops in the UK, ceased trading in August 2020.

Flight Centre closed 421 out of 740 of its stores during Covid-19.

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Tour operator TUI also announced plans to close a further 48 branches in 2021, in addition to the 166 TUI shops that were shut in 2020.

Bruce Martin, founder at Travel Gossip, said: ‘It is heart-breaking to hear about so many of our travel agent community on the precipice of closure and financial ruin.’

However, Hays Travel had a more optimistic outlook, opening its shops in England and Wales last Monday.

Dame Irene Hays, owner of Hays Travel, said: ‘We are more optimistic now than we’ve ever been that people who want to travel safely can book holidays again as the whole country eases out of lockdown.

‘We will be monitoring the government advice closely and our staff are primed and ready to be first with the green light holidays for their customers.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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