Top UK villa company to close with thousands of European holidays affected
A WELL-KNOWN villa holiday company is set to close by the end of the year with thousands of holidays affected.
Earlier today, holiday company James Villas announced that it would stop taking new bookings.
A statement on the company website read: “James Villas is no longer taking new bookings, and will be closing down by the end of the year.”
James Villas is owned by the holiday rental business Awaze, who also confirmed the intended closure.
Guests who have stays booked at one of the properties will still be able to go on their holiday until the end of November.
The James Villas website stated: “Customers with bookings that return on or before 30th November 2023 will be unaffected by the closure and their bookings will go ahead as planned.
“Bookings returning on or after 1st December 2023 will be cancelled. Customers with bookings due to commence on or after this date will be given a full refund, unless the property they have booked is also operated by a sister company, in which case the booking will be transferred, and new details will be provided ASAP.”
James Villas has more than 7,000 properties across 40 destinations in Europe.
Those villa owners who are impacted by the brand’s closure are also being contacted.
It is thought that 40 roles will be put at risk because of the closure – with a staff consultation process now underway.
Chief executive Henrik Kjelberg said: “Our focus at Awaze is to sell holiday homes that we manage exclusively on behalf of our owners.
“With our integration plans behind a common platform far advanced for our combined European inventory, we have decided to cease trading with James Villas as that model relied on guaranteed inventory.
“James Villas core inventory represents less than 1% of our total supply. We will work hard to ensure we minimise the impact on our employees, suppliers and customers.
“We remain committed to keep growing our supply base behind a model that is flexible and winning in the marketplace.”
Sun Online Travel have contacted James Villas for a comment.
Meanwhile, several UK holiday parks have launched their staycation deals for 2024 – with seaside caravans from £6pp a night & free activities.