More questions answered for agents and suppliers affected by Excite collapse, as connected company disappears

KPMG has attempted to answer more burning questions from travel agents as well as suppliers who have been caught up in the closure of Excite Holidays.

In a letter addressed to “Australian-based travel agents” on Friday, the company handling the wholesaler’s administration explained how the process works and how it might affect them.

According to KPMG, administrators Morgan Kelly, Phil Quinlan and Amanda Coneyworth are continuing to conduct “an urgent assessment of the companies’ financial position – the companies being Excite Holidays (Australia) Pty Ltd, Global Travel Holdings Pty Ltd, Global Travel Specialists Pty Ltd, Events NG Pty Ltd, and Travel Serv Co Pty Ltd.

The assessment includes investigation the impact on agents and travel suppliers who have previously engaged with Excite via its booking platform.

So far, the administrators have found that the companies in Australia operate with the Excite Holidays global structure and the booking platform served agents in various jurisdictions including Australia, according to the letter.

The administrators have also found that the terms and conditions on the booking platform indicate that trading is connected to a Singaporean entity within the Excite Holidays group, being Excite Holidays Pte Ltd.

“Based on the invoicing arrangements within the booking platform, travel agents based in Australia may have traded with Excite Holidays (Australia) Pty Ltd or/and the Singaporean entity, Excite Holidays Pte Ltd,” the letter read.

“Travel agents based in Australia with outstanding commissions, rebates, refunds and/or unpaid bookings may be a potential creditor of Excite Holidays (Australia) Pty Ltd.”

While agents who may be creditors are entitled to attend and vote at creditor meetings, KPMG noted their attendance will not impact their status as a potential creditor.

However, the letter also noted that the return to creditors from Excite’s voluntary administration is “highly uncertain at this stage”.

“Due to the high volumes of creditor enquiries, the administrators will not be in a position to adjudicate on creditor claims prior to the first meeting of creditors,” it read.

“We would encourage creditors to defer lodging their proofs of debt until after the administrators have undertaken further investigations.”

The first creditors meeting for Excite’s collapse will take place at Sydney’s Wesley Conference Centre on 22 January at 11am (AEDT).

The administrators will prepare a detailed report outlining among other things the potential outcome for creditors of the companies, which is set to be sent to creditors on or around 10 February.

KPMG also provided an updated document of answers to frequently asked questions by affected agents on Friday, which can be accessed here.

Similarly, a separate FAQ document has been prepared for affected hotels, tour operators and transport providers, which can be viewed here.

Connected company disappears

Meanwhile, a new travel company that is understood to be backed by Excite Holidays executive director Nicholas Stavropoulos has gone offline following the wholesaler’s collapse.

Travel You., which was registered as a trademark in Australia in August 2018 and was advertising itself as an online travel content and booking platform, had an active website domain and social media presence up until late last week.

Upon further inspection by Travel Weekly, TravelYou.com Pte Ltd is a company listed in Singapore.