PACKAGE holiday group Airtours is to close 120 of its Going Places and Travelworld high street shops.
The move, which will reduce the group's number of high street stores to 720, will affect about 550 staff.
Richard Carrick, chief executive of the group's UK Leisure Group division, said the firm hoped to redeploy all the staff elsewhere in the group.
The majority of the shops to be closed carry the Going Places name.
Mr Carrick said the closures partly reflected the changing face of shopping.
"Shopping is changing. We don't shop in the areas we used to, or at the time of day that we did," he said.
He said while the decision reflected an increasing trend in customers wishing to book direct, the firm remained committed to a substantial high street presence.
The firm will continue to invest in its out-of-town stores.
Airtours' reorganisation follows the recent integration of its back office operations of Airtours Holidays, Going Places and Travelworld to a single site in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.
The move also follows a tough time for the group, which in November reported a 30 per cent fall in underlying profits for the year, following problems at its German tour operating business FTi.
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