G Adventures have acquired the Swan Hellenic brand following the collapse of parent company, All Leisure Group, with plans to bring it back to life in 2018.
All Leisure Group, which also operated cruise-line Voyages of Discovery, as well as other tour brands surprised the travel industry when it ceased trading on January 4, affecting 13,000 passengers worldwide, 400 of which were overseas. The company reportedly had around 7000 forward bookings across both cruise brands at the time of going into administration.
The 60-year-old British cruise line Swan Hellenic was previously represented by GSA Travel The World in Australia when part of All Leisure, and was purchased for an undisclosed sum.
“There is unique potential for G Adventures to harness the popularity of Swan Hellenic overseas and bring it to Australian and New Zealand travellers next year,” Adrian Piotto, G Adventures Managing Director in Australia and New Zealand told Travel Weekly.
This latest acquisition from G Adventures follows their recent purchase of other floundering All Leisure brands, touring companies Travelsphere and Just You.
According to G Adventures, the purchase of Swan Hellenic further diversifies G Adventures’ portfolio of brands, adding boutique small ship cruising to its existing adventure travel, adventure cruising, and new touring businesses.
“The Swan Hellenic brand further diversifies our portfolio of brands, adding boutique small ship cruising to our existing adventure travel, adventure cruising, and new touring businesses that we know travellers from this side of the world will love. We have a lot of work to do as a business to get ready prior to the restart of operations in 2018.”
John Warner, Vice President of Global Sales, G Adventures, said the company was determined the legacy of the cruise brand will live on.
“We know how beloved Swan Hellenic is to its loyal customer base and respect it has in the British travel community. Our long-term aim is to re-launch Swan Hellenic and re-establish the award-winning values that make it so well-loved,” Warner said.
G Adventures plans to restart Swan Hellenic operations in 2018, with itineraries to be announced mid-2017.
