Modetour Network Inc., South Korea's second-largest travel service provider, has offered a voluntary retirement program for the first time in the company's history after suffering from the prolonged novel coronavirus pandemic, industry insiders said Sunday.

All of the travel agency's 990 employees will be eligible to apply for the program, according to the sources. High-ranking executives have already tendered their resignations for the company's worsened business conditions.

Earlier this month, Modetour workers were placed on unpaid leave.

"We are discussing additional restructuring measures with the labor union," a company official said. "Although industry sentiment is improving, many have conservative views on the pace of its improvement, so we thought it will be difficult to move on with the current unpaid leave program."

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Modetour saw its sales plunge 81.5 percent to 54.9 billion won ($48.6 million) in 2020, while shifting to a net loss of 61 billion won.

South Korea's top travel agency, Hana Tour Inc., already entered the workforce restructuring program earlier this year, while Lotte Tour Development Co. ran a voluntary retirement program to cut one-third of its workers last year. (Yonhap)