TUI closes a further 48 travel agencies in the UK, on top of the 166 that are already closed due to the coronavirus crisis. With this, the German company hopes to save costs. TUI hopes to be able to employ the 273 employees who work at these stores elsewhere.

“The travel industry and shopping streets are under enormous pressure,” the company says in a statement on Wednesday. “That’s why we’re closing 48 travel bureaus.”

A total of 314 travel agencies remain in the UK and Ireland after the closure. TUI is having a hard time with the coronavirus crisis. In January 2020, Europe’s largest travel company received a record number of bookings, but in March everything came to a standstill.

In the financial year that ran from 2018 to 2019, TUI generated a turnover of 19 billion euros. In the last financial year, turnover amounted to 8 billion euros. The company suffered a loss of more than 3 billion euros.