A HOLIDAY company has gone into liquidation after nearly four decades.

Travelsmith Limited, based on Burnham High Street, announced it will be closing its doors for the last time and all 11 staff will lose their jobs.

The business, which has been selling package holidays to Guernsey and Jersey for 37 years, said Covid-19 was the “final hammer blow”’ to the business.

Travelsmith started on Burnham High Street in 1983, between what was King and Hines and what is now Sergeant Peppers, before expanding and moving to Burnham Country Club.

In 1999, the company moved back to the Old Bakery in the High Street, where it has operated since.

Director Reg Smith said: “We went from being the ‘new boys’ to the number one tour operator in five years and in those days there were over 30 tour operators operating holidays to the islands. It was tremendously hard work and we typically worked 16-18 hours every day, but it was great fun – we just got on with it.”

At its peak, the company was booking holidays for 65,000 people a year.

Mr Smith said: “From the early Nineties we started to see a decline in demand. Overseas holidays seemed to get cheaper – and you could guarantee the sunshine.

“In the late Nineties and Noughties along came the internet and people no longer needed to go into a travel agent to book holidays, they could do everything direct – a reflection of what was to happen in High Streets up and down the country, in the years to come.

“This impacted our business, but we were surviving by having our own websites.

“Then along came the giant online agents such as booking.com and expedia and they had such a presence in the market place with high search engine optimisation.

“They hurt our business, but still we continued.

“Then early this year we dealt with the problems in the airline industry and rebooked hundreds of people, then along came Covid-19 – and that was the final hammer blow.”

“I want to say a massive heartfelt thank you to all of my colleagues, past and present – we’ve been like a family and there are many hundreds of you out there – for your years of excellent work, loyal service and above all, your friendship which means so much to me, and your support at this difficult time.

“Thank you also to our customers, many of whom have travelled with us on many occasions.

“Most of my colleagues have been with the company for over 20 years and included our first ever employee who was with us for 37 years – absolutely heartbreaking.”

The Cornwall branch of the business is unaffected and will continue to operate.