Transit clients’ cash safe

Press, 19 April 1980, Page 6

Transit clients’ cash safe

By

LES BLOXHAM,

travel editor i New Zealanders who have ' paid for Europen tours with Transit Travel, the British j firm which collapsed on j Wednesday, will not lose [ their money. ’ This assurance was given 1 yesterday by the company’s Auckland based agents for ; New Zealand, Argonaut 1 Tours Ltd. 1 An agency spokesman said 1 that th® 60 New Zealanders : affected would suffer no ■ financial loss and would be ' offered similar European i tours at no extra cost. Most are still in New Zea- i land, but some in transit are < probably unaware that their ] European holiday plans have 1 collapsed. 1 However, Argonaut Tours i is confident that alternative arrangements will be final- : ised by the time they arrive in London. 1 The company’s spokesman said he believed that all J tours that had actually left:' London at the time of col- 1 lapse would be completed. I

“We understand that noone will be abandoned,” he said. Transit Travel catered mainly for youpg Australians and New Zealanders with economy-tailored camping and hotel bus trips through Europe. The company’s advertisements appeared regularly in the “New Zealand News” in London. A front-page advertisment in the March 25 issue featured an attractive, SCantily-clad woman asking, “Hi—who’s for Transit’s Europe?” “I am for one — and who wouldn’t be with over 100 exciting new camping and hotel tours to choose from. With such fantastic prices this year you just can’t go wrong. . . ” But the company did, very suddenly, on Wednesday. The only travellers who might lose money through, the collapse are those who I booked and paid for tours' 'direct with Transit Travel’s' I head office in London. i I The chairman of the Asso-.l

ciation of Camping Tour Operators (Mr Geoffrey Phillips) said in London that Australian travel agents had ignored warnings about the business practices or Transit Travel, reports the Press Association.

“We made it clear to them last year that we were most unhappy with Transit’s activities,” Mr Phillips said. “Australian travel agents chose to ignore us. “They should not have taken the risk of booking people with a company which was outside the association.” Six of Transit Travel’s tour parties, a total of 219 people, are how in Europe. The marketing manager of Transit Travel (Mr R. Dee) has said that none of those holiday-makers would be stranded as a result of the collapse. He said a further 1658 people had booked and partially or fully paid for holidays with Transit Travel for later this year. Those people would be treated as normal I creditors, said Mr Dee.

Mr Phillips said it was extremely unlikely that any of them would get their money back. He estimated that “at least 1000” of them were from Australia and New Zealand. While emphasising that it was under no obligation to help anyone, the association has arranged discounts of between 35 and 50 per cent for those affected by Transit’s collapse to buy holidays with its member companies. This was not a full rescue operation, but the best the association could do, Mr Phillips said. Transit Travel was formed in London in 1966, and was a founder member of the association in 1970. But it resigned from the association in August, 1979, after what Mr Phillips said was a dispute about its intended policy Of offering heavily reduced rates on holidays' immediately before, the departure date, hoping to fill vacant places.