Balkan Holidays’ closure in UK ‘marks end of operating era’ 

The decision to shut down Balkan Holidays last week signalled the end of traditional tour operating in the UK, say senior industry figures.

 

Balkan Holidays had renewed its Atol in March but in a statement said: “The company remains solvent but has ceased trading. All forward bookings have been cancelled. All clients will be notified and refunded in full.”

 

Managing director Alexander Stoyanov said: “It has become increasingly difficult to be competitive and profitable in the UK.”

 

The company had struggled to compete in the mainstream family market using group charter carrier Balkan Holidays (BH) Air on weekly rotations from 17 UK airports, supplemented by low-cost carrier flights. 

 

It was a model that appealed to many agents and customers but could not compete with the volume and price discounts of Jet2holidays and easyJet holidays in the same market.

 

A Balkan Holidays spokesperson said: “The reasons a smaller operator finds it difficult to be competitive and profitable are well documented.”

 

Alan Bowen, advisor to the Association of Atol Companies, described the company as “an old-school operator, using its own charter flights”.

 

He said: “Agents loved them as they operated from so many airports. The issue is the change in the marketplace. Small and medium-sized operators simply can’t compete with the prices on offer from the major players.”

 

Sunvil Holiday Group chairman Noel Josephides agreed, saying: “It’s impossible to compete. Even if you have your own flying, if you’re going to the same destinations as these companies spending millions [on marketing], you don’t stand a chance. The old models just don’t work anymore.”

 

He said Jet2holidays and easyJet holidays were “hoovering up everything” and suggested Balkan Holidays’ owners had “looked at the UK market and said, ‘Do we want to spend our life discounting?’” 

 

Josephides added: “The timing was probably right.”

 

The Balkan Holidays spokesperson said: “The owners decided to close between seasons [to cause] less disruption to customers. Everyone was back from winter holidays and it was just before the summer season started.”

 

The company, founded as a state-owned operator in 1966 and privatised in the late-1990s, carried 135,000 UK passengers at its peak in 2005-06, with a Travel Weekly profile in 2019 noting it “remains a traditional budget package operator”.

 

It was part of the Balkan Holidays group headquartered in Sofia, which includes BH Air and operators in Switzerland and Denmark, but operated independently. The group remains in business.

 

An industry source suggested Balkan Holidays management decided its model “didn’t work” in the UK some months ago, saying: “They couldn’t compete.” 

 

An attempt to sell the company failed. The owners then decided to renew Balkan Holidays’ Atol before reversing the decision to carry on last week.

 

It is understood Jersey‑based parent company Dotbern Investments made a large cash injection to clear the company’s overdraft and refund customers in return for control of Balkan Holidays’ property in Mayfair, London.

 

The operator held an Atol for just under 28,000 this year, down from 86,000 in 2019-20. It recorded a profit of £168,000 in the 12 months to October 2023 but lost almost £2 million the previous year.