Tour Operator Steps In and Saves Cancelled Church Group Trip

As publisher, one of my responsibilities is to scan the news wire for group travel related happenings seeking trends, developments or potential problems. Last Tuesday, when word got out that St. Symphorosa Catholic Churchs $3,200 per person trip to Poland was cancelled by Christian Pilgrim Tours because the firm filed for bankruptcy, an uneasy feeling came over me. I sent a quick email to my colleague, Mike Schields at Globus who heads up their emerging markets division, which includes Globus Religious Journeys.

We are all over it, exclaimed Mike, who saw the same story that I did. All over it they were. Parishioners of the Southwest Chicago church said they prayed for a miracle and a miracle they got indeed, as Globus has agreed to make whole on the eight-day trip which follows the pope’s life in Poland. The tour begins in Warsaw, ends in Krakow and includes several stops along the way, including the pope’s hometown of Wadowice.

I just couldn’t let it go, Schields said. This is just the right thing to do.

As travel organizers, we have short memories of the horror stories as companies like Far&Wide and First Family of Travel rape and pillage our customers bank accounts. We are the ones left holding the empty bag with the fingers pointing at us. Unfathomably, this church group did not buy travel insurance, did not pay with credit cards, and booked through an operator with no consumer protection plan, who has a history of financial problems, documented through the Pennsylvania Attorney Generals office.

We all need to applaud Globus for having the big shoulders to step in and make this right. But, they can not clean up after every mess and insolvent operator. Let this serve as a wake up call in good times and bad, scam artists and bad business people will take your money with the promise of trip and little else. And in most cases companies like Globus would not be there to pick up the pieces.

Protect yourself and your customers by researching your operators and receptives thoroughly, purchase travel insurance from a third party company (not the operator, as it does not protect against bankruptcy!), pay with credit cards and always look for consumer protection plans like that offered by USTOA operators.

The mistake of booking a bad operator can ruin a good career and put you and your personal assets in front of a judge quicker than you can say Chapter 7. Follow these guidelines and you will be following the footsteps of the pope, not Ken Lay.

Courtesy of grouptravelblog