Holiday company with Eastbourne shop announces 166 store closures

Around 900 jobs could be affected after Tui said the covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift to online holiday bookings.

The tour operator, which has a store in The Beacon shopping centre, says around 350 stores across the UK will remain, but has not yet decided which ones will be closing.

Andrew Flintham, managing director of Tui UK and Ireland, said in a statement, “We want to be in the best position to provide excellent customer service, whether it’s in a high street store, over the telephone, or online, and will continue to put the customer at the heart of what we do.

“It is therefore imperative that we make these difficult cost decisions, look after our colleagues during such unprecedented uncertainty and also offer a modern customer service.”

It comes after Tui cancelled all trips to Spain until August 10 after the UK government advised against non-essential travel to the country.

Anyone returning from Spain is currently being told to self-isolate for 14 days after a rise in coronavirus infections in the country.

Here’s how long the new Spain quarantine rules could last and when they’ll be reviewed

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.