Company behind well-known UK coach holiday brands collapses

Hayle, Cornwall, UK - June 10, 2011: A Shearings Holidays coach travelling on the A30 road at the Loggan's Moor roundabout.

The parent company of two well-known UK coach holiday operators has gone into administration, resulting in tens of thousands of customers’ trips being cancelled and more than 2,500 job losses.

Specialist Leisure Group operated several businesses that sold holidays and other travel arrangements, which have all ceased to trade due to the impact of COVID-19.

All tours, cruises, holidays, and hotel breaks booked with Specialist Leisure Group have been cancelled and will not be rescheduled, according to a statement on the company’s website.

Its collapse will come as a shock to many, with coach holiday specialist Shearings having been providing holidays to the UK public for over 100 years. Specialist Leisure Group also offered coach holidays through its National Holidays brand.

According to UK travel trade association ABTA, Specialist Leisure Group had over 64,000 bookings, the vast majority of which were coach package holidays through Shearings and National Holidays.

The company said its hospitality brands Bay Hotels, Coast & Country Hotels and Country Living Hotels will not reopen, and all of its Wallace Arnold Travel agencies are now permanently closed.

Commenting on the collapse of Specialist Leisure Group, John de Vial, director of membership and financial services at the ABTA, said: “The fact that two such well-known brands with a loyal customer base have had to call in administrators is a stark indication of the pressure that the holiday industry is under as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

“ABTA has repeatedly highlighted to the government the urgency of the situation and the need to set out a coordinated strategy with clearer communication if it wants to help avoid significant job losses and support companies to weather the storm.”


Featured image: iStock/Difydave

Latest News

  • Destinations
  • News

APT Launches 2025 Asia Adventures

APT has launched its Asia Adventures for 2025, including new luxury holidays in India, Sri Lanka and Japan. Five new tours lead guests to the highlights of India, including a seven-night cruise along the rarely travelled Lower Ganges aboard the Ganges Voyager. Further south, Sri Lanka’s greatest destinations are revealed on a new 15-day Land […]

  • Cruise
  • Luxury
  • News

Seabourn announces Western Kimberley Traditional Owners as Godparents of Seabourn Pursuit

Seabourn has named Western Kimberley Traditional Owners, the Wunambal Gaambera, as Godparents of the ultra-luxury purpose-built Seabourn Pursuit. It is the first cruise line to appoint Traditional Owners as godparents of a ship. Seabourn Pursuit embarks on its inaugural season in the Kimberley region this June. The naming ceremony will take place on Seabourn Pursuit’s […]

  • Luxury

Malolo Island Resort opens brand new Spa

Fiji’s Malolo Island has added another string to its bow – opening its $1.3 million day spa on Thursday, 18th April 2024. (Lead Image: matriarch Rosie Whitton with spa staff) Located at the edge of the resort’s luscious patch of tropical rainforest, the new “Leilani’s Spa” adds another level of elevated experiences to Malolo’s already […]