Flight Centre staff in the Illawarra are still to learn their fate as the travel agency prepares to close up to 100 stores across Australia.
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Flight Centre has stores at Wollongong Central, Figtree Grove, Stockland Corrimal, Warrawong Plaza, Dapto Mall, Stockland Shellharbour and Terralong Street, Kiama.
But at this time it is unsure which if any of the Illawarra outlets will be affected.
In a statement to the ASX on Friday morning Flight Centre said it will shut down its underperforming stores but did not specify which stores or how many jobs would be affected.
The Illawarra Mercury spoke to one staff member who said employees had received an email saying "remain calm and we will update you as soon as we can".
A spokesperson for the Flight Centre said "not every region is impacted as there are 100 shops nationally across a few different brands".
In the statement to the ASX on Friday the Flight Centre Travel Group (FLT) said it has suspended its 2020 fiscal year (FY20) guidance following heightened uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus.
It said in light of the virus's ongoing impact on leisure and corporate travel patterns globally Flight Centre has implemented strategies to protect and grow market-share, while reducing costs and maintaining its solid balance sheet, in a challenging trading cycle.
Managing director Graham Turner said although the outlook and the timeframe for recovery remained unclear the company was well placed to overcome challenges.
He said it would draw on its experiences with SARS in 2003 and during the Global Financial Crisis in 2009 by seeking to stimulate demand, while also implementing sensible cost reduction strategies to maintain its balance sheet strength.
"While people are still booking travel - in February, our TTV actually increased slightly globally compared to the same month last year - we are now seeing significant softening and expect this to continue into April at least," Mr Turner said.
"Within this uncertain environment, our priorities are to reduce costs, while also ensuring that we and our people are ready to capitalise when the steep discounting that is underway across most travel categories starts to gain traction and as the trading cycle rebounds.
"As we saw with both SARS and the GFC in Australia, the rebound can be relatively fast and strong after a fairly significant downturn in international travel.
"In the near-term, we will proactively seek to win leisure market-share by investing in sales and marketing - at a time when some of our competitors may be forced to pull back - to increase our share of voice and to highlight - destinations that are currently considered to be lower risk, including Australian domestic and South Pacific holidays. The great value we are now seeing; and the initiatives that we and our key suppliers are introducing to give travellers greater flexibility and additional peace of mind surrounding their future bookings".
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Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
