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ABTA steps in as short breaks specialist goes bust
ABTA member Short Breaks Ltd of High Street, Beckenham, Kent, has ceased trading.
Holidays booked with Short Breaks are fully protected by ABTA, which has taken the decision to guarantee payment to hotels so that customers’ holidays up until the end of May can go ahead as planned.
ABTA will then move on to deal with departures from June 2019. The association says it intends, wherever possible, to allow these bookings to continue.
There are around 800 passengers due to go on holiday with the tour operator over the next three months. The company specialised in trips to the continent on the Eurostar, with Euro Disney holidays a popular option.
Normally when a tour operator fails, all forward bookings are cancelled.
In this instance, forward arrangements such as train tickets and attraction passes have been paid for in advance by Short Breaks.
As a result ABTA has taken the decision to cover the costs of hotels for imminent departures, in order to minimise disruption and inconvenience for customers, meaning people can continue with their holiday as planned.
ABTA head of financial protection John de Vial said: "It can often be a difficult experience if your travel company goes out of business, as while you can get the money back for what you have paid so far, forward bookings are often cancelled – disrupting people’s travel plans.
"I am pleased to let the customers of ABTA member Short Breaks Ltd know that their holidays will not be affected by the company going out of business, and will go ahead as normal as we have agreed to pay unpaid accommodation for customers travelling in May and we will be in discussion with customers who have later departure dates to discuss their options regarding accommodation.
"Short Breaks’ customers were fully financially protected by ABTA and we have taken this decision to minimise inconvenience to customers who will have the reassurance of knowing that they will be able to stay in their originally booked accommodation and not have to pay again and then seek a refund."
The company traded under ABTA numbers L3461 and W5344.
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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