Update on collapse of Villa Parade
ABTA members Villa Parade and sister company Luxury Villa Escapes ceased trading yesterday.
The family-run luxury villa specialists, set up by a husband and wife team, sold packages mainly to Spain and Portugal.
All 10 staff have lost their jobs but have reportedly agreed to stay on to help the owners deal with the paperwork.
Huddersfield-based Villa Parade was a member of ABTA and ATOL and had 550 rentals in the Mediterranean and Orlando.
The Civil Aviation Authority said the parent company Air Parade had ceased trading with immediate effect and it is working closely with the failed company.
It said those with accommodation only bookings should contact ABTA as they wouldn’t be covered by the ATOL scheme.
There are around 1,300 bookings for future ccommodation-only holidays and customers can make a claim for a full refund with ABTA.
Around 70 customers are currently overseas and should carry on with their holiday as normal.
Around 400 forward bookings for flight-packages that will be protected by its ATOL cover.
In addition, there are around 300 forward bookings where Air Parade provided the accommodation via another company.
ABTA said: "Customers should contact the company they used to book the accommodation and they will be looked after by that company, who will either advise that their holiday can go ahead, arrange an alternative booking, or arrange a refund."
Travel agents had already voiced concerns on social media about Villa Parade after the operator cancelled villa reservations, leaving their clients who had booked flights independently without accommodation.
Agents became increasingly concerned when Villa Parade’s website went down and its phone lines were permanently engaged. The operator was not responding to emails either.
The company was involved in a legal wrangle with holiday rentals firm Travelopo, based in Somerset, which emailed Villa Parade customers last month to say their bookings for villas in Northern Majorca were no longer valid.
Villa Parade was later granted a High Court injunction against Travelopo, ordering the company to retract the statement that the bookings were "void".
A statement on Travelopo’s website said clients booked in one of more than 120 villas and apartments via Villa Parade need to confirm whether their bookings are valid. It said some of the accommodation may be rebooked through Travelopo, "depending on whether they remain on the market and are available".
It added: "An earlier statement by Travelopo that bookings with Villa Parade are "void" is incorrect. Please contact Villa Parade to confirm the status of your existing booking."
The list of affected properties can be found at www.travelopo.com/statement.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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