Swan Hellenic, VOD payouts

MORE than $1 million is set to be paid to Australian travel agents hit by credit card chargebacks in relation to the collapse earlier this year of the parent company of Swan Hellenic and Voyages of Discovery ( CW 05 Jan).

British company All Leisure Group ceased trading just after Christmas, disrupting the travel plans of more than 13,000 consumers.

Many of them were from the UK, with about 400 of those on trips at the time repatriated at no cost under the UK Civil Aviation Administration’s Air Travel Organiser’s Licensing (ATOL) consumer protection scheme.

Forward bookings for passengers on cruises departing from the UK were financially protected by the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) - but that protection initially did not extend to bookings made through Australian travel agents.

Australian Federation of Travel Agents ceo Jayson Westbury has been lobbying on the issue for months, and yesterday confirmed that 308 claims had been lodged on behalf of the local industry which was hit heavily by credit card chargebacks after the failure.

ABTA will make the payouts in the coming weeks, he said.

MEANWHILE, similar collapses in the future will have much less impact on agents in terms of credit card chargebacks, with the launch yesterday of the AFTA Insolvency Chargeback Scheme (AICS) ( Travel Daily yesterday).

Agents who have their credit cards processed by an AICS participating merchant provider will be protected by the scheme via a small levy included in the merchant fee - for more details and to register, see the website at www.afta.com.au/aics.