The Turkey and Goa specialist went bust with only a small number of customers overseas at the time, and its Atol license ensured anyone with a forward booking was able to secure a refund.
That’s why the company’s former managing director hopes to return to travel and start up another tour operator next year with his head held high.
As Platon Loizou reveals to TTG this week, he hopes to launch a new niche operation to India and the Far East, though he’ll steer well clear of the country that caused Jewel in the Crown’s demise.
Loizou might find Goa a busier market than he left it, however, since Serenity Holidays has been moving into this territory since the end of last year.
In our interview this week, we hear about Serenity’s strategic diversification of its products over recent years, retaining a specialist approach, while avoiding an over-reliance on its core programme in Gambia.
When Ebola decimated tourism to west Africa in 2014/15, Serenity’s other destinations, and its focus on differentiated products from which it makes a decent margin, helped the operator weather the storm.
These will be the kind of lessons I’m sure Loizou will bear in mind in as he shapes a business model for his new venture.
The sadness and support independent agents expressed when Jewel in the Crown went under in April indicates he’ll certainly have their confidence.
If the Jewel in the Crown collapse demonstrates how a travel company can wind down without widespread chaos, then the Lowcosttravelgroup’s collapse in July is a good example of just how catastrophic an operator failure can be.
In the next of our TTG Debates series, we’ll be looking at how travel companies can restore consumer confidence after Lowcost’s demise. Join us in London on September 22 to ask how other travel companies can avoid making the same mistakes, and if there are any silver linings for the rest of the industry.
