Balkan Holidays Cancelled: A British travel agency has announced that all of the vacations that were booked via it have been cancelled and has been forced to close. After offering excursions for almost 60 years, Balkan Holidays announced in a startling turn of events that the company has stopped operations as of April 24.
Customers of Balkan Holidays are currently rushing to find other plans because all of their vacations, including their eagerly anticipated summer vacations, have been cancelled. The 1966-founded company stated it “regrets to inform” clients that it had shut operations immediately.
“We regret to inform you that Balkan Holidays Ltd has, as of 24th of April 2025, closed for business in the UK. Clients currently on holiday will be unaffected,” a spokesperson for the company, which specialised in trips to the Balkan region of Europe, said.
“The company remains solvent, but has ceased trading, however, all forward holiday bookings have been cancelled. All clients will be notified and refunded in full. May we kindly ask for patience as we process the refunds, and appreciate your understanding. Thank you for your past business, and please accept our most sincere apologies for the disappointment and inconvenience.”
Vacationers might travel to Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Malta, and Northern Cyprus with Balkan Holidays. In the upcoming weeks, everyone who booked vacations to these locations and others should receive their money back. Priority will be given to those with the earliest departure dates, including this week.
Expectant tourists who made travel arrangements through a third party have been informed that they must speak with their travel agency in order to claim their money back, while direct customers have been encouraged to get in touch with the company directly to arrange refunds.
Founded almost 60 years ago, Balkan Holidays specialises in travel to Bulgaria. Compared to other UK tour operators, it had departures from 17 British airports. It served 130,000Â people annually at its height. However, its passenger volume has decreased recently; in the year ending March 2026, it was authorised to transport a mere 27,817 passengers protected by ATOL.
Balkan Holidays ‘ demise coincides with a sharp decline in travel agencies in recent years. In March 2019, there were more than 4200 agency shops, but by June 2023, there were only 3500, a decrease of 18% over the previous five years, according to Statista.
The ‘very sad and challenging choice ‘ was made, according to the agency’s bosses, because of the “significant shift towards online holiday bookings and rising business costs.”
“As you can imagine, this has been very difficult for staff at this time; however, we all remain 100% committed to ensuring a very smooth transfer of bookings to another agency,” said manager Charlie Coyle.Â
