hi jim,

That all-important crystal ball would be the best Christmas present!

It's been a funny old year in the travel industry - it seems to me the choice of tour operator is shrinking and we're getting more and more used to DIY holidays - booking flights, holidays and hotels off our own backs - than ever before. I wonder what 2010 will bring? I think holidays are almost the very last thing to go when an economic downturn hits, but we're well into a prolonged recession now. If an upturn looks likely early next year, it will be interesting to see the types of holidays people are choosing and where the hottest destinations are. Value for money will still be the most important thing, I think.

Anyway, if we don't speak before, have a great Christmas and wonderful New Year. Best wishes to you and your family.

hello graeme

no need for you to opologise graeme. if we all had a crystal ball and could see into the future we could all see this happening, unfortunatly we cant and still more airlines and online travel companies seem to be falling by the wayside just now.

hopefully we have got over the worst. there is one report at

http://www.leisuregrouptravel.com/breaking-news/associations/survey-reports-upturn-in-americans-travel-intentions-0908102.html

that shows the travel intensions of the american public from aug 2009 - jan 2010 appear to show an upturn, even though it's a slight one at that. lets hope something similar could happen this side of the pond and elsewhere next year.

regards

jim

Hi jim,

You did indeed! Apologies - that obviously by-passed me!

Clearly alarm bells are ringing around the travel industry as a whole at the moment: Allbury Travel Group - trading as Libra Holidays, Argo and Jetlife - also went into administration over the weekend. The travelsupermarket.com team have put together some advice for those affected here: Allbury Travel Group collapses

I think this is the latest in a long line of companies to go under in 2009-2010. In the year ending March 2009, 46 ATOL registered companies failed. I think we're already at 51 for 2009-2010. It makes more sense than ever to check that you're protected by your travel insurance policy.

hello graeme

i did a post about the possibility of their collapse on the 18th of november.

http://www.travelsupermarket.com/community/forums/t/flyglobespan-finances-39780.aspx

some alarm bells were ringing then.

jim

Here's some useful information from travelsupermarket.com's Bob Atkinson and moneysupermarket.com's Felicity King-Evans:

What to do if you're a Globespan or flyglobespan customer

Flyglobespan collapses

I hope that helps.

It was announced late last night that Flyglobespan, Scotland's largest airline has collapsed after its parent company, Globespan, was placed into administration with the loss of 800 jobs - stranding around 4,500 people in various destinations such as Cyprus, Spain and Portugal.

Around 1,000 or so people will be repatriated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) under the Air Travel Oragniser's Licencsing (ATOL) scheme (see www.atol.org.uk for more information) However, about 3,000 people will have no protection as they booked directly through the airline's call centre or website, flyglobespan.com, and a further 100,000 are believed to have travel plans which will now be disrupted.

Ryanair, easyjet and Thomas Cook are reported to be offering those stranded overseas special 'rescue' fares to return home. Those who paid by credit card or Visa debit card should conatct their card provider to check if they are eligible for a refund under Section 75 of the 1974 Consumer Credit Act. We'll bring you further updates and helpful information on the travelsupermarket.com site as soon as we get them.

This is around the 27th travel operator to go into administration this year.

Are you affected by Globespan's collapse? Has your holiday been ruined? What do you think? If you're stuck in resort or about to go on holiday, how are you coping?