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Australians stuck and out of pocket for their ideal vacation
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EXPLORE FURTHER: Melbourne construction firm goes bankrupt with debts of $2.3 million
Many Australian families have lost substantial amounts of money, seen their ideal vacations destroyed, and experienced even
left stranded overseas
following the collapse of a significant travel firm.
The online travel company Traveldream entered administration and stopped operations on April 28. This led to the sudden cancellation of flights, accommodations, cruises, and tours booked by their clients.
A woman along with her two daughters misplaced $33,000, whereas a party of travelers who were abroad discovered upon arrival at the hotel that there was no reservation made under their names.
Donna Lamberth along with her spouse suffered a loss of $15,500 due to the aftermath of the collapse.
The pair saved money for two years to embark on their journey, beginning with a visit to Vancouver before boarding a cruise ship.
Alaska
before they finished in
Las Vegas
. In December, they finally settled all the costs for the trip.
“I’ll need to save once more. That’s quite a sum to part with,” she said.
news.com.au
.
When Ms Lamberth contacted the cruise company, she was informed of the shocking fact that merely $250 had been put down as a deposit for the cruise.
“They mentioned that there was still $7,000 remaining to be paid, so I started crying,” she stated.
The Lamberths were forced to cancel their vacation as they could not manage to cover the costs of both the lodging and the cruise once more.
Michelle Brown, together with her spouse and companions, reached Vancouver the previous Friday following a 21-hour journey from Australia.
Ms Brown recounted to news.com.au, ‘We arrive there at some hour of the night, but they apologized saying they didn’t have our reservation.’
She was among the approximately 75 individuals who were affected when things fell apart, as stated by Bill Karageozis, an administrator from the insolvency firm McLeods.
Mr Karageoziz stated that the firm’s liabilities would probably not surpass $1 million, and he noted that the business had no accessible physical assets.
The administrator prompted clients to identify their travel ‘wholesaler,’ which refers to the firm that the travel agency pays for securing these services.
The list provided to customers included several key suppliers such as Royal Caribbean Cruises, Holland America Cruises, Qantas, Air Canada, United Airlines, American Airlines, Singapore Airlines, WestJet, and Canada Rockeries KeyWest Tours.
Christopher Banson serves as the exclusive director of Australian Travel Deals Pty Ltd, operating under the brand Traveldream. The company has been active since 2016.
He also manages Salt Water Hotels and Resorts, which comprises 30 locations across Australia and remained untouched during the collapse of Traveldream.
According to the administrators, another shareholder named Travel Dream Australia Pty Ltd owes Traveldream an amount of $49,000.
Paul Mercuri directs this firm; he co-established Traveldream but had stepped away from the business before it went under.
Traveldream and McLeods were approached by Daily Mail Australia for their input.
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