OUTBOUND travel to Asia from Spain is likely to take a beating after the European nation’s largest vertically integrated travel group, Globalia, revealed plans to axe up to 175 of its travel agencies.
Globalia’s travel agencies have been a major source of clients for its longhaul tour operator, Latitudes.
Group president Juan José Hidalgo’s announcement came after reports of a further 10 per cent drop in overall turnover for the crucial summer holiday period.
The cutbacks announced at the group’s agencies, Halcon Viajes and Ecuador Viajes, represent around 13 per cent of its total network in Spain, although they fall below original estimates of up to 400 closures.
Spain’s Unión General de Trabajadores, or General Union of Workers (UGT), said it expects the first round of shutter-downs to begin by late October.
A UGT tourism sector official said that so far Globalia has only talked of cutting back on travel agencies, but added: “They have told us they are in a process of analysing after the summer campaign and have yet to totally define their restructuring.”
Much of Globalia’s packages to Asia were initially built on the back of flights operated by its carrier Air Europa, Spain’s third-biggest airline and now a member of Star Alliance.
But pre-crisis services to Bangkok, Beijing and Shanghai have since been dropped, leaving the group’s longhaul tour operations – rebranded under Latitudes – to rely on other carriers to serve its Asia holiday destinations.
Spain’s economic woes had already vanquished another leading travel group, Orizonia, early this year (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 5, 2013).
