20th travel failure may not be recession's last

SLATTERYS CLOSURE:THE Irish Travel Agents Association has said it is impossible to judge whether the sector is over the worst effects of the recession, as another tour operator closed this week.

Slatterys Travel ceased trading on Tuesday evening, bringing to 20 the number of licensed and bonded operators that have folded in just over a year, according to the Commission for Aviation Regulation.

Some of the agents, such as Toolin Travel, had several branches. Slatterys Travel, which was based in Tralee, Co Kerry, ran a number of operations, including Slatterys Escorted Tours and Stein Travel.

It had no connection with the Fermoy-based Slattery Travel, which runs a Budget Travel shop and continues to trade as normal.

People who have booked holidays with Slatterys have been reassured that they will not lose their money, as it was a licensed and bonded operator.

Simon Nugent, chief executive of the Irish Travel Agents Association, said it was very difficult to predict what would happen next in the travel industry. He said members had anticipated some shrinkage in the sector this year because of the economic downturn. “This winter is unlikely to be a great winter for travel,” he said, “but it’s much too early to predict what will happen in 2010.”

Business had become increasingly difficult to plan, as people were booking holidays much later than previously, Nugent said. “People are booking honeymoons two weeks before they plan to go, or cruises a few days before they want to travel.”

There was one sign of optimism in the travel industry this week as Neenan Travel Group, in Dublin, reported that it had traded out of a difficult time. It had previously put some of its staff on a three-day week because of the downturn in the industry, but a recent boom in business has led to the return of normal working hours.

Its managing director, Alan Neenan, said sales had “lit up” since the beginning of September. “We’ve noticed a dramatic increase since the start of the month, coinciding with the launch of a free-meals special offer from Disneyland Paris, which is great value for families and has been very popular with our clientele.”