Tui To Close 166 High Street Stores In The Uk And The R O I

[iansheff 86]

As the title says TUI are closing 166 stores but makes no mention of how many jobs will be lost. Not a company I have used much, used to use Cooks at least they would price match if you went in the store, TUI wouldn't price match their own holidays last time I went to book a holiday.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/business/tui-to-shut-166-high-street-shops-in-uk-and-ireland/ar-BB17mPg7?ocid=msedgntp

Edited July 30, 2020 by iansheff

[willman 10]

Its going to be devastating for the staff, but it won't bother the majority of holiday makers who always appear to be chasing cheaper online deals.

I haven't had a "foreign" holiday for nearly 15 years though,so i could be to blame as well.

[Arnold_Lane 0]

13 minutes ago, willman said:

Its going to be devastating for the staff, but it won't bother the majority of holiday makers who always appear to be chasing cheaper online deals.

I haven't had a "foreign" holiday for nearly 15 years though,so i could be to blame as well.

Bit like when HMV goes bankrupt (which happens a lot).

 

Lots of, “thats a shame.  Haven’t been there in years though, I download everything.”

 

Mhmmmmmaybe that’s why?

[Thirsty Relic 210]

13 minutes ago, Arnold_Lane said:

Bit like when HMV goes bankrupt (which happens a lot).

 

Lots of, “thats a shame.  Haven’t been there in years though, I download everything.”

 

Mhmmmmmaybe that’s why?

Yes.  Of course, not everybody is on the Internet, so to those people it may be more difficult (or impossible) to find a local travel agent.  Chicken and egg - fewer travel agents, so fewer people using them, so fewer travel agents.......

 

The digital divide marginalising sections of the community.

[Arnold_Lane 0]

11 minutes ago, Thirsty Relic said:

Yes.  Of course, not everybody is on the Internet, so to those people it may be more difficult (or impossible) to find a local travel agent.  Chicken and egg - fewer travel agents, so fewer people using them, so fewer travel agents.......

 

The digital divide marginalising sections of the community.

Not really chicken and egg.  The internet came first - now everything is moving online.  Businesses won’t keep high street stores open if they aren’t profitable.

 

Is the digital divide, at this point in time, self imposed?

[Thirsty Relic 210]

2 minutes ago, Arnold_Lane said:

Not really chicken and egg.  The internet came first - now everything is moving online.  Businesses won’t keep high street stores open if they aren’t profitable.

 

Is the digital divide, at this point in time, self imposed?

Self imposed?  Well, only as far as those with internet access AND using it to book their holidays.  If someone books online and then grumbles about the store closed when they wanted to use it - yes, they share the blame. 

 

The pensioner without internet access (or other person like me with the internet but who books holidays in store) has to suffer, but is in no way to blame.

[Arnold_Lane 0]

10 minutes ago, Thirsty Relic said:

Self imposed?  Well, only as far as those with internet access AND using it to book their holidays.  If someone books online and then grumbles about the store closed when they wanted to use it - yes, they share the blame. 

 

The pensioner without internet access (or other person like me with the internet but who books holidays in store) has to suffer, but is in no way to blame.

Is it different from someone wanting to watch the latest film at home but only having a VHS player?

 

Would you expect every Halford’s to give floor space to Datsun Sunny carburettors for the 18* that are left running in the country?
 

*according to howmanyleft

[the_bloke 17]

19 minutes ago, Arnold_Lane said:

Not really chicken and egg.  The internet came first - now everything is moving online.  Businesses won’t keep high street stores open if they aren’t profitable.

 

Is the digital divide, at this point in time, self imposed?

Absolutely. The Internet has been part of our lives since the mid '90s. I've been online for 26 years!

[iansheff 86]

I always used to look online for holidays and then go into the travel agents where usually they would match prices. I liked the fact that you got the tickets from the agents and didn't have to mess about printing your own off.

[willman 10]

I've only ever booked one holiday online and that was fo an anniversary gift - one week before Monarch went bust who were the airline of choice at the time through Expedia. We were refunded for the flights but lost the hotel money. That was our first stab at going abroad in over a decade.

I don't do digital music downloads or ebooks, i prefer a physical presence for my money.

 

(My wife has found Wayfair.co.uk and banks online but otherwise has no desire to be online at all, she'd still prefer to take her passbook into the bank to be brought up to date if she's honest.)

[ECCOnoob 1,021]

18 hours ago, Thirsty Relic said:

Self imposed?  Well, only as far as those with internet access AND using it to book their holidays.  If someone books online and then grumbles about the store closed when they wanted to use it - yes, they share the blame. 

 

The pensioner without internet access (or other person like me with the internet but who books holidays in store) has to suffer, but is in no way to blame.

Yes and no.

 

I never quite buy the "what about pensioners" type of argument. The internet has certainly been increasingly commonplace in homes for over 20-years.    According to 2019 ONS figures whilst 99% of adults up to 44 years old had internet access it still noted that nearly half of over 75s also had to access. 

 

The numbers of people who are at such an elderly age they do not have concept of the internet and still have sufficient health and faculty to regularly be booking travel will be interesting.  Notwithstanding, even if certain people don't personally have access or use internet services - it is a high probability that they will know someone who can and does.

 

Of course not everyone wants to be forced to use online services but these are businesses and if their majority customers are not using physical shops then perhaps it is arguably fair for them to expect the minority customers to adapt. 

 

Like everything else, the travel industry has well and truly been hit by this virus taking some firms to the brink. The last thing they can afford is to be throwing money away on extremely expensive and overstaffed real estate. 

 

I have every sympathy for the staff  losing their jobs but personally I felt it was inevitable that at least some of the physical travel shops would go.  Thomas Cook might just have about limped on under a new owner but they always had a bigger scope and product range to the limited Thomson/TUI.  

Edited July 31, 2020 by ECCOnoob

[ECCOnoob 1,021]

5 hours ago, iansheff said:

I always used to look online for holidays and then go into the travel agents where usually they would match prices. I liked the fact that you got the tickets from the agents and didn't have to mess about printing your own off.

You raise another interesting point there about printing stuff off. That is another thing that is slowly becoming completely obsolete and another reason for the decline in necessity for any physical presence.

 

I must admit I also print off my foreign travel documents and airline tickets because in my mind I can't get over the "just in case" hump.  But I always see a significant number of people waving their smartphones over the airport barriers and scanning their online boarding passes.

 

Here in blighty I do exactly the same with train tickets and can't remember the last time I had or needed a printed one.  

 

I will leave it for debate whether this is a good or a bad thing.  Maybe there is an argument we are becoming far too virtual in our world.... But it is certainly going to be a challenge to stop it now.