Coach trip company to shut after 40 years

A long-running coach holiday company has announced it is winding down its business.

Siesta Holidays in Middlesbrough has been operating coach holidays to various parts of Europe including Spain and France for more than 40 years.

It announced on Tuesday that 2024 would be its last season operating a coach shuttle service.

John Harrison, one of the firm's directors, said he had been touched by the outpouring of fond memories from customers since the announcement.

He said the coach side of the business was shutting for various factors.

One of the main reasons was that young people were more likely to travel via low-cost airlines to mainland Europe than by bus, said Mr Harrison.

"Another reason is that our client base has gotten older and maybe one or more of the party can't travel anymore for health reasons," he said.

The pandemic had also taken a toll as there were two years where it could not afford to spend money on marketing, he added.

Following Brexit, crossing the channel had also become plagued with delays, causing several knock-on costs, he said.

But plenty of customers said they had fond memories of the firm and wished it was not shutting.

Jenny Parkes said she went on her first Siesta holiday with her children in 1999.

"It was the best," she said, adding that she had been on many coach holidays with the company since.

Jacey Curran said she had travelled to Tarragona in Catalonia with Siesta with her family for more than 15 years.

"Your holiday started as soon as your bum was in your seat," she said. "Such amazing memories."

Kathleen McDermott said her mother could not travel by plane due to health problems and so Siesta was the main way her family could go abroad.

"It's heartbreaking knowing we will never do the journey again," she said. "But we have some fantastic memories."

Mr Harrison, who has been at the company since 1987, said he was "pleasantly surprised" by all the positive memories.

He said the end of the shuttle service was "quite sad" but said he too had fond memories of family trips with the company.

"We got some great holidays out of it," he said.

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