STA Travel collapse: could other agents help?

AUCKLAND: Travel agents getting Government support could help New Zealanders caught up in the collapse of STA Travel, but say it would be complex chasing up funds for clients of another business.

Administrators say STA Travel owes at least $7 million, and some of the hundreds of New Zealanders who booked through it say they are out of pocket by tens of thousands of dollars.

Under an incentive scheme announced on Tuesday, agents will be paid up to $47.6 million to chase up an estimated $690 million held by suppliers overseas.

Flight Centre New Zealand managing director David Coombes was part of an industry group that negotiated with the Government and said customers of STA, now in administration, could benefit from wider sector expertise.

Deloitte is handing the administration of STA — which was not a member of the Travel Agents Association of New Zealand — and Mr Coombes said other surviving agents could be willing to help if called on.

‘‘‘My view is right now that this is firmly in the hands of creditors — nobody would be able to step in without the data and there are privacy issues, but there would be a willingness in the industry to talk to creditors and see if there is a way we could get through this,’’ he said.

‘‘If they think there is a pathway to utilise who is viable in the agency sector to reach out [but] it’s a complicated issue.’’

Deloitte has been approached for comment. After an initial creditors’ meeting last week, the firm said current claims received for STA Travel (NZ) totalled more than $7 million, and that was expected to grow.

One STA customer who contacted The New Zealand Herald said her faith in travel agents had been shaken by the collapse, which risked $6000 she had with the firm.

Mr Coombes said the Government scheme would give surviving agents some breathing space.

The consumer travel reimbursement scheme will help the return of credits to New Zealand consumers via agents. It is estimated close to $700 million could be at stake.

Travel agencies will be paid:

7.5% of the value of cash refunds.

5% of the value of credits successfully secured on behalf of consumers.

If an agent recoups $10,000 in a refund on cancelled travel, the customer gets that money back and the agent will receive $750. If it is a credit for the $10,000 of cancelled travel, the customer gets the credit and the agent receives $500.

Mr Coombes said the scheme was not big enough to save all of what was left of the industry, and that was not the Government’s intention.

‘‘What it represents is a small