Lowcostholidays
 |
|
| Industry | Travel, tourism |
|---|---|
| Fate | Bankruptcy |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Defunct | 15 July 2016 |
| Headquarters |
Palma de Mallorca, Spain (formerly London) |
|
Key people
|
Paul Evans, CEO |
| Products | Flights, package holidays, hotels and resorts |
|
Number of employees
|
500+ |
| Website | www |
Lowcostholidays was a travel company and a consumer-facing brand of the lowcosttravelgroup, which was founded in 2004. It operated to destinations worldwide, with a focus on European city and beach breaks. Around 500 people worked for the brand, which was based in Palma de Mallorca, with additional offices located in London, and Krakow. The company collapsed and went into administration on 15 July 2016. The collapse of the company was blamed on low turnover in the aftermath of the Brexit vote.
lowcostholidays was founded in 2004 by CEO Paul Evans, and operated in 13 different markets. Evans had a background in the travel industry, where he worked for companies including Saga Holidays, Airtours/My Travel Group, First Choice and Holiday Hotels.
lowcostholidays’ former headquarters were located in East Grinstead, before relocating to offices just outside Gatwick Airport, in summer 2011. The brand then moved its business to Palma de Mallorca, Spain, in November 2013. Following the move Evans responded to criticism, saying, “We are centralising our lowcostholidays business and simplifying our structure…having a single trading entity, through which all of our holidays are sold, means we can achieve significant efficiencies and cost savings.”
The brand’s German site was the first to launch internationally, followed by a further nine European sites. In June 2013, lowcostholidays launched its single parent holidays campaign, offering lone parents cheaper rates on selected hotels when travelling with children. The same month, their Secret Hotels programme launched, allowing customers access to cheaper beach breaks by booking an undisclosed hotel.
In early 2014, lowcostholidays expanded further, opening offices in Atlanta, United States and Sydney.
On 15 July 2016, the company collapsed and went into administration. The administrator, Smith & Williamson, claims that there are approximately 27,000 Lowcostholidays customers currently on holiday and 110,000 who had booked trips but were yet to depart. In 2013, the CAA warned holidaymakers to avoid booking with the company, due to its relocation to Spain, which meant that its bookings were no longer protected by ATOL. This ensures that customers can return home and receive a refund if a company does collapse.
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Wikipedia