Agents move to calm XL panic

Travel agents across the Black Country and Staffordshire were being inundated with calls today from panicked holidaymakers worried about the collapse of XL Leisure Group.

The country's third-largest tour operator declared bankruptcy after being hit by rising fuel costs and the credit crunch. Midcounties Co-op Travel, which has 25 branches across the West Midlands, said it had up to 400 customers in the region affected by the collapse, however, 25 of those holidaymakers were currently in the Mediterranean.

Travel general manager Geoff Hurmson said customers could opt for an alternative holiday or refund. He said the economic downturn had forced the company to draw up contingency plans to cope with such a problem.

He said: "We will be telling people who have booked through our branches in the West Midlands 'yes, you can't fly today but we can offer you an alternative holiday providing you still want to travel'.

"Our first priority is to reassure customers and let them know they have options. We will assist people in organising a new holiday or with the paperwork for a refund. In most cases, we will be able to transfer the money they have paid to the new tour operator.

"Those that are abroad at the moment will be brought home by the Civil Aviation Authority, they won't be stranded out there," he said.

Travel agents in Kinver have six customers stranded in Greece in the wake of the collapse.

Director of Kinver Travel Centre Michelle Pereira, said staff were contacting tour operators to get the three parties of holidaymakers back safely.

At Wolverhampton Bowen Travel Ltd, part of First Choice, sales consultant Mike Welch said: "We will be going through our records today to see how many customers we have affected. Luckily, Birmingham Airport seems to have escaped the worst of it."

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