Another travel agency loses license, 200 travelers stranded
Multiple travel agencies around the world have had to shut down abruptly since the start of 2026.
A few recent names include Tango Travel in Iceland, British firms Vegas Vacations and Great Little Escapes and Unitravel Kft and Travel Teachers in Hungary.
While lack of funds due to the low consumer sentiment and the spiking cost of airfare are usually more than enough to tank a company that started out with the best ambitions, there are also instances of outright scammimg.
In April 2026, the entire men's basketball team of the University of Dallas was left without a planned trip to compete in the United Kingdom after Boston-based GoPlay Sports Tours LLC accepted two payments of $30,000 and then stopped replying to their questions about what was supposed to be an organized tour.
AVG Travels shuts down as travelers left with canceled trips
In two separate cases in the Canadian province of British Columbia, what were presented to be travel agencies to customers ended up getting closed down by investigators after receiving multiple customer complaints of paying for invalid tickets and hotel bookings.
AVG Travels, a Melbourne-based travel company advertised cheap package deals to Australian and New Zealand customers, sent over 200 travelers an email saying that the trips they booked were "under review" over "operational scheduling adjustments."
Related: Tour company goes into liquidation and cancels all trips
While many of the customers report being unable to reach the company since the email, a website that remains up states that it was launched out of Vietnam in 2012 and established a separate branch in Melbourne in 2015.
Some recent travel company bankruptcies:
- Great Little Escapes: The British travel company filed for bankruptcy after running up losses of £77,000 ($103,000 USD).
- Unitravel Kft: The Budapest-based tour operator blamed "new, foreign companies enter[ing] Hungary with huge financial resources" for a financial breakdown that led to it having to suddenly cancel trips that in some cases were already halfway through.
- MixxTravel: The Malmö-based travel company was forced to cancel trips and wind down operations after being declared bankrupt by a judge in August 2025.
- Tango Travel: The Icelandic tour operator went bust in November 2025 after major partner Play Airlines filed for bankruptcy and stopped operations a month earlier as many of the packages it sold included tickets from the defunct airline.
- New Era Travel: Ceased operations in November 2025: The Hampshire-based tour operator took British travelers to Spain, Australia, and Las Vegas, among other destinations.
The company markets what it describes as "premium all-inclusive Asia tours to popular destinations including Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Japan."
While AVG Travels put out a statement saying that it was "engaging with all affected travelers to provide fair and appropriate resolutions," the abrupt trip cancelations left hundreds of customers set to depart in the coming days scrambling to contact the company for information or refunds only to be unable to reach any representatives.
AVG Travels promises refunds but customers struggle to get in touch
"This experience has crushed our faith in handing over money to others up-front for this kind of thing," Sam Chisholm, a traveler based in Perth who spent $3,500 AUD on an 11-day holiday to China, said to a local outlet.
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The situation has been reported to the Council of Australian Tour Operators (CATO), which has suspended the travel agency's membership after learning of the situation, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
"On becoming aware of complaints against AVG Travels this week, we moved quickly to review their accreditation status," CATO General Manager Mira Yates said in a statement. "That review has resulted in the immediate suspension of AVG Travels' CATO accreditation."
Related: Another low-cost airline files for bankruptcy protection
