Check your travel agency before it takes you for a ride

Holidays in full swing. All those who have not yet taken their summer break will now probably look for the best offers. However, a comfortable hotel, white sandy beach and sunny weather are not all. To really enjoy your holidays, it is a good idea to check the reliability and solvency of your travel agency. Such check may be performed in, among others, the ERIF Register of Debtors. The simple check will increase the chances that your long-awaited holiday will not turn into a summer nightmare.

According to the data submitted by the ERIF Register of Debtors which gathers and makes available information about, inter alia, the debts of businesses and consumers, the number of unreliable travel agencies has been growing. In July this year, ERIF's database included information about debts of 111 travel agencies,  up by 23% on May this year. The increase is significant if one takes into account that at the end of 2010 the ERIF Register of Debtors included information about 80 tour operators and in June 2010 about less than 40. The largest number of travel agencies reported to ERIF have their head offices in the following provinces: mazowieckie (22%), małopolskie (16%) and śląskie (12%). Residents of the above provinces should pay special attention to whom they are entrusting the organisation of their dream holiday. What is the best way of checking a travel agency before purchasing a trip or a resort holiday?

Invaluable customer opinions

It turns out that when considering a purchase of a product or service, consumers trust the recommendations of other customers most. And in fact, in the case of checking the reliability of services offered by travel agencies, asking around among more experienced customers is usually effective. Thus, you may ask family members and friends who have already used the services of your selected travel agency. A lot of information may be found on web-based travel forums. When reading the posts on the forum you should be aware that the forum is not necessarily a fully reliable source of information. Persons who are not satisfied with the service of a tour operator are more willing to share their negative experience than those whose holidays were problem-free. It will certainly be good to make an additional check of the credentials of a travel agency which had negative opinions on the forum.

Professional associations and supervisory agencies

It is worthwhile to look for information at the Polish Chamber of Tourism (PIT) which is an organisation of travel industry professionals. At www.pit.org.pl you may easily find a list of entities whose credibility is certified by the chamber. Another good source of information is the Register of Tour Operators and Travel Intermediaries available at turystyka.gov.pl.
Supervision over travel agencies is exercised by the Marshal of the province in which a travel agency has its registered office. Customers may inquire at the Department of Tourism of the local Marshal’s Office and ask about possible recent complaints about the tour operator whose services the customer wants to buy.

 Unreliable travel agencies reported to credit information bureaus

Another option is to verify the tour operator at a credit information bureau. A past due debt of a travel agency reported to a credit information bureau should flash a red light in your head. Services of such a travel agency should not be used. The company may go bankrupt and not transfer due payments to their foreign counterparties. For holidaymakers it will mean only trouble.

“The growing number of travel agencies reported to the ERIF Register of Debtors is a reminder of last year’s crisis in the travel industry. In 2010 some travel agencies, even if they did not go bankrupt, faced financial distress and using their services may involve a risk of unnecessary stress, spoiled holidays and obviously loss of money,” explains Edyta Szymczak, President of the Board of the ERIF Register of Debtors. "Therefore we encourage customers to check whether the travel agency they want to use has been reported to a credit information bureau. You can never be too cautious. Especially if by being cautious you may avoid unpleasant surprises,” adds ERIF’s CEO.