Travel firm to open its doors to customers

NORTH East travel giant Hays Travel has announced plans to start reopening shops later this week.

The Sunderland firm – the UK’s largest independent holiday firm, which took over Thomas Cook when it went bust last year – will begin opening its shops tomorrow, with new measures in place to protect staff and customers.

Social distancing, screens and hygiene measures are being put in place which will limit entry to the shops, but allow customers to call ahead to book appointments.

Managing director John Hays said: “We are really looking forward to being back serving our customers in our shops, but we will only do it in the safest possible way for all of us.

“More than 3,000 retail staff have been working from home to keep services going virtually since the lockdown began, and we will continue to provide a number of different ways to contact us, including Zoom and Facetime, email or a phone call.”

He added: “More customers are now booking holidays for later this year or 2021. They are choosing a variety of destinations such as Greece, the Balearics and the Canaries.

“On selected new bookings we are offering our Peace of Mind Guarantee, meaning that if our customers need to cancel or change for any reason within six weeks of departure, they can have a full no quibble refund with no cancellation charges.”

John Hays launched Hays Travel in Seaham, County Durham, 41 years ago. Last October, he and wife Irene Hays acquired the former Thomas Cook retail portfolio of 555 shops; it now has around 650 shops nationwide, employing more than 4,500 people.

With the Foreign and Commonwealth Office restrictions on all immediate non-essential travel still in place, Hays Travel is working hard to contact people who were due to travel within the next four weeks and rebook or process refunds for them.