AFTER 13 years of operation Perth-based wholesaler Fiesta Holidays has wound up business.
The Australian-owned niche company offered a mixed-bag of packages to exotic destinations such as Mauritius, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Reunion, Sabah, Seychelles and Bali, along with ‘Fly-Cruise’ deals with 16 major cruise lines.
Making the announcement via an email-blast late on Fri, Fiesta Holidays informed trade partners the business would cease to provide quotations or take new bookings from travel agents.
“After a lengthy period of reflection, we have decided to gracefully retire from travel wholesaling and to focus on our other travel-related business activities,” the memo stated.
MD Brian Spitteler confirmed to Travel Daily on Sun the wholesale division had “effectively passed its used by date,” citing on-line bookings, price-matching and loss of volume for Fiesta’s demise.
Spitteler added that the firm’s Directors made the choice to no longer service the trade, “instead, focusing on developing our brand.”
Fiesta’s parent company, whose core business is corporate/retail travel, remains “very strong.”
“Fiesta Holidays was very well supported by the trade, however the GFC had a significant impact and the operation lost its economies of scale,” Spitteler said.
Last year, Fiesta was nominated in the 2012 Australia National Travel Industry Awards under the ‘Best Wholesaler – International’ category.
Fiesta is requesting agents with deposited bookings to organise final payment as per invoices, with documents to be dispatched as quickly as possible.
Spitteler told TD the firm was still holding about 1,000 bookings for around 2,000 passengers.
“All monies are held in trust and the company is well able to finalise all existing bookings.
“There will be no shortfall so no additional support will be required,” he insisted.
Up to eight Fiesta Holidays staff jobs will be lost after 08 Feb, while four to five roles will be transferred to the retail division.
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