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National Express new package holiday arm ‘suspended’
National Express customers have also become victims of the collapse of Super Break and Laterooms.com parent Malvern, it was revealed this week.
The coach operator’s new tour operation, Holidays by National Express, was launched in June in partnership with Malvern.
Holidays by National Express has now been suspended.
In a statement, National Express said only a ‘small number’ of customers were affected.
"We are speaking with them to ensure that there is minimal disruption to their travel plans and they do not find themselves out of pocket.
"All bookings are protected via ABTA meaning customers can claim a full refund. However, we appreciate this process may take some time so are happy for customers to contact us direct and we will honour their claims with immediate effect."
National Express said its tour operation was ‘on pause’ while it reviews its options, adding: "We have confidence in the concept and believe there is a future for the product," it added.
Holidays by National Express was offering off-the-shelf and tailormade packages that combined coach travel, hotels and experiences. At its launch, National Express said customers could save up to 15% buying a bundle rather than booking all the elements separately. The company was expecting to sell about 500,000 packages in its first year.
However, the technology and customer contact centre was provided by Malvern, which collapsed last week. Malvern’s executive chairman Hugo Kimber had been talking to other companies with a view to offering them the same technology on a revenue share or fee basis.
Travel agents are not expected to be affected by the suspension of Holidays by National Express as it was mainly a direct-sell operation.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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