BCD Travel says it will
have to “let talented and highly valued people” go as it restructures as a
result of the Covid pandemic and that by the end of the crisis job losses will
total more than 3,000.
The news follows
an interview in Dutch business newspaper Het Financieele Daglad with BCD
Travel founder John Fentener van Vlissingen.
A BCD spokesperson told
BTN Europe, “Unfortunately, addressing the current downturn in transactions
requires the difficult decision to let talented and highly valued people go.
Like so many other companies in the travel industry, BCD will be a smaller
organisation coming out of the pandemic.”
“We expect that more than
3,000 staff members will be affected. It’s too early to say what this means in
terms of concrete figures for each of our country organisations. We’re
carefully mapping our approach to what our clients and prospects will need, how
travel demand will evolve, and how we’ll deliver on our long-term post-Covid strategy,” the company said in a statement.
The spokesperson added: "All of our regional and central leaders are
outlining necessary steps for their areas. We know this downturn won’t last
forever, so we’re balancing our response to the transaction drop with ongoing
prudent investment in the projects and technologies that will continue to drive
innovation in our clients’ programmes, increase revenue and improve efficiency
within our own organisation.”
BCD has recently announced
its success in expanding its relationship with Germany’s
Siemens conglomerate. In September, the TMC won business from the US Army. Our sister publication The Beat (subscription
only) has reported that the award to BCD is currently on hold pending an appeal by incumbent CWTSato Travel.