SINGAPORE, 9 September 2020: Covid-19 officially takes the blame for the demise of an Asian travel pioneer Pacific World that announced it would shut its doors this November making around 200 staff redundant.
Last month, the travel firm confirmed it was closing its Hong Kong office in September following almost two years of political upheaval that seriously curtailed the incentives and conference markets. Covid-19 finished the company off globally with TUI Destinations Experiences pulling the plug on the entire network of Pacific World offices worldwide effective 1 November.
TUI Destination Experiences, the parent division of Pacific World said it was shifting to a “digitalisation strategy and decided to stop participating in the Meetings & Events market.”
TUI Destination Experiences will stop operating the meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE) business under the Pacific World brand in November 2020.
Pacific World was founded in 1980 in Hong Kong and purchased by First Choice (later TUI Travel) in 2006. It is one of three brands operating under TUI Group’s Destination Experiences Division.
In late August, the global travel firm STA that catered mainly to youth and student travel announced its closure but some offices that under franchise could continue to use the brand. STA is owned by Diethelm and Keller that also owns Diethelm Travel Group one of the oldest travel firms in Thailand.
