EXCITE Holidays, one of the country’s largest independent wholesalers, is no longer a member of the AFTA Travel Accreditation Scheme.
The move was described as a “voluntary withdrawal” in a notice placed on the AFTA website yesterday.
AFTA has not made any statement on the change, which among other impacts will see Excite no longer eligible for participation in the National Travel Industry Awards for 2019.
Excite Holidays bookings will also not be covered by the AFTA Chargeback Scheme, while relationships will be affected with any travel agents that are committed to only dealing with ATAS-accredited suppliers.
The AFTA website indicates that Global Travel Holdings Pty Ltd trading as Excite Holidays voluntarily withdrew from the scheme effective 10 Dec 2018.
The withdrawal is a significant shift for Excite, which proudly hailed its accreditation when it was accepted into ATAS just over four years ago (TD 19 Sep 2014).
At the time CEO George Pappaioannou said “we believe ATAS is playing a vital role in endorsing the quality and reliability of travel wholesalers”.
He noted that the rigorous process had seen Excite evaluated in key areas including business disciplines, training and solvency.
Excite Holidays didn’t respond to requests for comment today.
Source: traveldaily