The closure of a Helloworld Travel agent, leaving would-be travellers out of pocket, has provided ABC News with a human-interest story that will give many in the travel industry pause for thought.
The ABC News report centres on Helloworld Travel Plenty Valley in Victoria, which went into liquidation in July this year owing customers a combined $340,000, according to administrator Mackay Goodwin as stated by the ABC.
The story looks at a local couple and at a family, who lost thousands of dollars they had saved and set aside for what they thought would be very special and memorable holidays of the “once-in-a-lifetime” sort.
ABC reporter Jessica Longbottom notes that “the government-run Travel Compensation Fund (TCF) used to cover consumers in the event that a travel agent went bust, but it was abolished in 2014”.
The Plenty Valley store was the latest “of at least four” Helloworld Travel agencies in Melbourne’s north and east to go bust, the report says.
As is evident from the ABC story, not every travel consumer understands the complexities of franchise arrangements when they make their booking. Some see a familiar brand name on a retail travel agent outlet and presume it is “all one company, under one name”, to quote a woman in the story – whereas that’s not always the case.
The ABC story, complete with photos and a statement from AFTA, can be read on the ABC News website here.
None of the franchisees are facing any criminal or civil charges and there is no suggestion that they, or anybody else connected with the story, have engaged in any criminal conduct.
This year, with its lockdowns and border closures, has been hard on travel agent businesses. AFTA lists 160 agents that have had their ATAS accreditation cancelled so far this year, pursuant to Section 2.3 of the ATAS Charter (which deals with unsuccessful applications or renewals).
Edited by Peter Needham
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Hello Peter
ATAS means nothing to consumers. AFTA has been deluding itself for years on this. Waste of time and money.
The original compensation scheme should never have been done away with.
We can seat this blame back to Mike Hatton ex CEO of AFTA
From my memory, Barry Mayo was a voice in the wilderness on this. Others silent.
Not having a scheme actually helps the big brand agency groups like – Flight Centre – with its strong brand and proliferation of outlets.
Peter