Administrators are understood to have been called in on Monday to try and sell the group’s assets, with a proposed deal to sell the bed bank arm to Hotelbed. However a source close to the matter said this had fallen through.
He said Brexit was directly to blame for the company’s collapse.
“OTAs are exposed to currency fluctuations. When the currency collapsed it created a great deal of uncertainty about travel companies from the banks," he told TTG.
“It caused short-term doubt about the travel trade, meaning any person looking to invest in the business was dissuaded from wanting to do so. Banks suddenly lost confidence in the market.”
The collapse is likely to be particularly hard-felt by consumers because since 2013 the Lowcosttravelgroup has not been covered by the Atol scheme.
The group operated out of Poland, Majorca and Switzerland, and subsequently did not come under the UK’s CAA jurisdiction.
The source added that the failure would likely provide a boost to the larger tour operators as customers seek financial protection assurances in the wake of the collapse.
The Lowcosttravelgroup was founded in 2004 and evolved into a €700m business with some 500 staff worldwide.
The group was split into two, with a B2C arm lowcostholidays.com, and the B2B business lowcostbeds.com, which provided hotel accommodation to the travel trade.
