Hays Travel asks staff 'to take voluntary leave' as coronavirus outbreak impacts travel industry

The news broke just days after bosses John and Irene Hays gave an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live, telling listeners that they remained “excited” about the company’s future.

At the end of last year, Hays acquired the stores formerly owned by travel giant Thomas Cook and took on hundreds of staff who lost their job in the wake of the firm’s collapse.

But now, a company spokesman said that Hays is looking to cut “non-essential expenditure” as the industry as a whole takes a hit.

Hays confirmed the news in the aftermath of President Donald Trump imposing a travel ban between the United States and Europe, which will start on Friday, March 13 and run for 30 days.

A spokesperson for Hays Travel said on Thursday: “Like all businesses we are taking measures to lessen the impact of coronavirus on our company and at this stage we are simply looking to cut non-essential expenditure and we are asking our colleagues if they wish to take voluntary leave or reduce their hours on a temporary basis.

“We are reviewing the situation on a daily basis.”

Recent days also saw a number of operators suspend all flights to Italy.

Speaking earlier this week, John and Irene admitted that things were “slowing down” for travel firms, but that they were continuing to offer their usual service to customers and ensure that quieter time was focused on other tasks like staff training and “selling differently”.