Tour company files for bankruptcy and cancels trips, leaving travelers stranded

Amid a flurry of high-profile bankruptcies this fall, companies that sell vacation packages and tours also struggled at a time when many consumers are holding back on prudent travel spending.

British tour operators Great Little Escapes and Jetline ceased operations within weeks of each other in the summer of 2025, while Reykjavík-based Tango Travel was unable to cope with the closure of Play Airlines at the end of September. As most of its tour packages included flights on the now-defunct airline, the holiday company, in a domino effect, ceased operations after a month.

In November, British tour company New Era Travel also had to tell customers it was closing and going into liquidation.

The latest travel agency in the Swiss city of Geneva is reported to have closed.

According to local outlet Study Travel Magazine, AILS Sejours Linguistiques has ceased business and filed for bankruptcy at the Court of First Instance of the Canton of Geneva in November.

Related: National airline cancels all flights for third day in a row, no bankruptcy

The travel company, with offices in Switzerland and France, organized student exchanges and language-learning trips to countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia.

A managing partner in Australia anonymously told Study Travel magazine that many students with trips booked in the coming months were desperately trying to get information about the company’s situation.

Both individual students and schools used the company to book trips abroad as part of their academic programs.

“We are dealing with a lot of distressed students who have discovered through a drip feed of information that the agency AILS appears to have closed,” the managing director told the outlet. “They’ve closed schools because of too much money.”

• Great Little Escapes: A British travel company has filed for bankruptcy with losses of £77,000 ($103,000 USD).

• Unitravel Kft: Budapest-based tour operator accused of “new, foreign companies entering”.[ing] Hungary with huge financial resources” for a financial breakdown that caused it to suddenly cancel trips that in some cases were already halfway through.

• MixxTravel: A Malmö-based travel company was forced to cancel trips and shut down operations after a judge declared it bankrupt. August 2025.

• Tango Journey: Iceland’s tour operator goes bust November 2025 After major partner Play Airlines filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations a month ago.

• New Age Travel: Closed operations on November 2025. The Hampshire-based tour operator took British travelers to Spain, Australia and Las Vegas, among other destinations.