I’ll be back, says Jewel in the Crown MD

Platon Loizou, managing director of Turkey and Goa specialist Jewel in the Crown which went into liquidation on Friday, speaks to TravelMole about his sadness at the failure of his business, his fears for Turkey tourism, and how he’s not ready to leave the travel industry.
 

How did your staff take the news about the company’s liquidation?

"It’s very sad for my staff. We have nine staff in the UK and four in Turkey, and there was lots of crying when I told them on Friday. Some of them have been with the company since we bought it 18 years ago and many of them worked for me previously when I worked for other companies. I have been desperately ringing round other operators trying to get jobs for them, and for my Turkey reps. Since Friday I have been writing references for them all and trying to find them new positions.

What has the reaction been like from your customers and industry colleagues?

The phone hasn’t stopped ringing with people calling up to support us. I’ve been selling holidays to Turkey since 1987 and I know every hotelier personally that we deal with. We were the only independent Turkey specialist left and now it’s just the big operators.

What went wrong?

The simple fact was there was no demand for Turkey. We had 18,000 seats and we had only sold 2,700. Right now we should have been getting 50 or 60 bookings a day and we were getting five or six. Last year was very difficult too and we had essentially used all of our past resources. If we had carried on accepting bookings at a reduced price, maybe we would have got to June but the money would have run out and we would have been forced to go bankrupt in the middle of the season, which would have been worse for everyone.

What impact is political instability, terrorism and the migrant crisis having on Turkey tourism?

It’s going to be a dreadful year for Turkey. A lot of the hoteliers are small, ‘mama and papa’ family businesses who close for the winter and only run from May to October. I don’t think they will have realised yet how difficult it’s going to be. It’s sad because people don’t seem to understand the harm it is doing. It’s so different now. Before, if there was instability in Turkey it would be a small story in the back of the newspaper, but today, with the media, it’s on the television every day, 24 hours a day, wherever you are in the world. It’s no surprise that people are concerned and demand has dropped, even though there are no issues on the coast.

Will Turkey bounce back?

As soon as the country is stabilised, it won’t take long for it to get back to business. Turkey is a beautiful destination and it’s the cheapest destination for the British holidaymaker. It has a massive repeat business so it will come back.

And what about you? Will you bounce back too?

I’m 62 years old and although I have a bit of blood pressure, that’s normal if you’re a tour operator! I can’t sit at home, I love work, I’ve been in travel since 1974 when I was a reservations clerk for Thomson. Although every day has been a challenge, travel is my life. I’m already looking at different options. I need to change the model, as buying seats on guarantee only works when the demand is there, but I do intend to come back. There’s another 25 years in me yet!