Platon Loizou’s new business will not follow the same model as Jewel in the Crown but it will be based in Crawley like his former company, and Loizou said he hoped he might be able to draw on his old pool of staff.
He insisted to TTG that the new business, which has yet to be named, would also be “agent-friendly” and would pay commission.
The new company will start out as an online business with a small team, and will specialise in India and the Far East, but Loizou said he would be staying away from Turkey, which he insisted remained “too volatile” as a destination. He also said the new firm would operate a different business model, after he admitted “learning lessons” from the collapse of Jewel in the Crown.
“Buying committed seats on aircraft and having to sell them was fantastic when there was a lack of seats,” he said. “[But] this new business will be more flexible – we will mostly be buying seats to match the clients’ expectation – there is no risk that way.”
Loizou added that his experience and contacts meant he would be able to provide “wonderful product options”.
Jewel in the Crown, which also specialised in Goa, went into liquidation on April 1 after 29 years of operation. At the time Loizou blamed the “political situation in Turkey” for the adverse impact on trading.
The operator, which had an annual capacity of 18,000 to Turkey, had no passengers overseas at the time of the collapse but did have several forward bookings, which were covered by Atol.
Loizou said he must wait a year before he can apply for a new Atol. He plans to submit an application for an Atol for his new business on April 1 next year.
He revealed to TTG that he hoped the new business could be in operation by April 3 and ready to sell holidays by next winter, if he “puts enough work in in the meantime”.
For now, the entrepreneur said he was focused on his English sparkling wine vineyard near Bishop’s Stortford, but that he would soon “get overseas and start contracting”.
Asked whether he believed agents and consumers would have confidence in his new business, Loizou said: “I was one of the team that put Goa on the map back in the 80s – I have been in travel since 1974.
“You only struggle with relationships when you steal from people. If you do things properly then you haven’t let people down. Certainly all the hoteliers have faith in me – many are already asking me when I’m going on sale.
“Will travel agents support me? Well they haven’t lost any money through me. If I provide the right offering then I hope they will. We collapsed because Turkey fell off a cliff. This is a very difficult time for travel,” he added. “I have got to get it right so it will be a step-by-step process.”
