More than 350 jobs are at risk at Hays Travel as part of a planned consolidation of its UK retail estate.
The travel agents, based in Sunderland, said 89 shops are to close across the UK, after the latest lockdown forced the firm to accelerate a review its retail estate.
While 388 jobs are now under consultation as part of the consolidation plans, the firm stressed it is making every effort to find affected staff alternative work.
In a statement Hays Travel said it had deferred its review of the performance of the 550 former Thomas Cook shops it acquired in October 2019 to see if business returned in 2021.
But the third national lockdown and travel ban, leading to major holiday operators suspending flights and holidays, meant the company had to act.
Jonathon Woodall, chief operating officer, said the company would begin consulting with 388 retail staff on potential options to reduce the number of redundancies.
He said: “Our first priority is to continue to look after our customers and we offer the highest standards of customer service through our retail, phone and online divisions.
“We are continuing with our robust two-year business plan and continue to be ready for the bounce back when it comes.”
Dame Irene Hays, owner and chair of Hays Travel, said: “It was always our intention to review the performance of our shops at the end of the licence period - we had hoped the business would bounce back in January and it has not.
“We have done everything we could to safeguard jobs and the business thus far, and we have come up with a range of options for those at risk of redundancy to help as many colleagues as we can.”
Among other options, staff will be offered the chance to join the Hays Travel Homeworking Division, to work from home, or take positions in other shops where there is a vacancy.
Hays Travel currently operates 535 shops and employs 7,700 people.
Last September the company launched a consultation on 878 redundancies in its Foreign Exchange and Travel Academy.
Following the consultation 261 permanent and temporary jobs were saved. It said ultimately there were 451 redundancies with the remainder moving on to other opportunities.
During the lockdown, many staff are working from home, taking bookings for holidays for 2021 and beyond, offering the Hays Travel Peace of Mind Guarantee which allows customers to cancel or rebook for any reason up to six weeks before departure.
