Tui UK is to close its cruise call centre in Swansea with the loss of 48 jobs.
The company plans to handle the calls through its existing retail shops and move the cruise support function to its head office in Luton.
The decision follows a review of the cruise function.
The 48 employees affected have entered into a 45 day consultation period. These include 34 full time roles from the CruiseDeals sales centre and14 from the Thomson & Island Cruises support team.
The Swansea-based payroll function, which is also based at the same office in Mariner Street, Swansea and employs 18 people, is unaffected.
CruiseDeals is a specialist retail agent selling a range of holidays including Thomson & Island Cruises as well as third party cruises. Its sales calls are proposed to be handled by selected cruise agents based in the Thomson shops across the UK, supported by the company’s Virtual Call Centre technology.
The company said it had heavily invested in specialist cruise training for its retail agents and is confident it can maintain its high standards of service for cruise customers through its shops.
Kathryn Ward, retail and financial service director said; “This is a difficult decision and the welfare of the employees impacted is our priority. We are committed to working through and validating our proposals with them and then subject to that, ensuring that we consider suitable alternative employment within the organisation whilst maintaining the excellent service our customers expect from us.”
Ward and Karen Doyle, general manager for cruise, informed the staff at Swansea yesterday.