Travel agency shuts down after losing license, all trips canceled

Along with several smaller airlines, a number of travel companies around the world have filed for bankruptcy or shut down over the last six months.

In the United Kingdom, tour operators Great Little Escapes and Jetline both shut down operations within a few weeks in the summer of 2025, while competitor New Era Travel followed with liquidation proceedings in November.

Icelandic tour company Tango Travel was left unable to operate by the earlier bankruptcy of partner Play Airlines and shut down in November. Swedish travel company MixxTravel and French cruise operator Expedis Exploration were among some of the others to leave travelers with booked trips out to dry in recent months.

A main provider of tours to Cuba since the 1970s, Havantur was forced to shut down its main European office in France at the start of 2026 amid political instability and low tourist numbers to the Caribbean country.

Most recently, in the Canadian province of British Columbia, travelers are struggling to receive refunds for booked vacations after travel agency Vegas Vacations lost its license to operate and shut down operations on Jan. 9. The company had been operating at a mall in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond since 2011.

Regulating agency Consumer Protection BC (CPBC) released a statement explaining that Vegas Vacations’ license to operate was withdrawn because the agency had insufficient funds to run a travel agency.

Prior to the investigation, some travelers had already reported paying for booked vacation packages to Sin City and other popular holiday destinations, only to discover that they did not have valid flights or hotel bookings.

“We encourage anyone who booked travel through Vegas Vacations to reach out to the airline, hotel, and any other travel provider they believe their travel was booked with to confirm their reservations,” CPBC spokesperson Louise Hartland said in a statement.

Related: International travel company shuts down in bankruptcy, travelers stranded

Many customers with booked packages have as a result been struggling to reach Vegas Vacations for information on refunds or their bookings. As signs point toward a run, the main recourse for affected travelers is to submit a claim through the CPBC Travel Assurance Fund.

In one case, a family that paid the agency $22,000 Canadian dollars for a cruise to Japan is struggling to get it back after a credit card was charged twice for the same trip, even before the shutdown, local Canadian broadcaster CTV News reported.

“They kept going back,” Arthur Leung told CTV News. “And then when they keep brushing them off, they kind of knew that they’d been had.”

• 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.

• 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.

Such shutdowns often leave travelers with little recourse except going through customer protection services or bankruptcy procedures.

Travel news:

While unreachable by phone or email, Vegas Vacations still has an active website on which it is advertising tour packages for categories such as “Las Vegas,” “Europe,” and “Asia.”

“We specialize in offering once in a lifetime experiences that will create lasting memories,” one of the pages for the packages reads.

Related: Another airline files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, all flights canceled

This story was originally published by TheStreet on Jan 14, 2026, where it first appeared in the Travel section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.