THE owner of Mildura’s Helloworld Travel stores says having to cancel and reschedule hundreds of holiday bookings for Sunraysia residents has been a “heart-wrenching” experience.
This week the two stores reopened to the public after being forced to close late in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Owner Melissa Hassall said while there were still many unknowns, the business was now focusing on holiday bookings beyond this year.
“We are looking to 2021 for either rescheduling trips that were unable to be taken this year or booking trips for people who are starting to look at 2021 and 2022 holidays,” Ms Hassall said.
Ms Hassall said it had been a huge effort to reschedule or cancel current bookings and she felt for all those affected.
“We’ve had to reschedule or cancel 100 per cent of our bookings … which would be hundreds between the two shops,” she said.
“At the moment that’s everything up until the end of June and we’re now cancelling bookings for July, August and September.
“It takes as much time to cancel a holiday as it does to put it together and, when you’re working for no money, it’s gut- wrenching.
“Every time you cancel a holiday, you think this is someone’s dream, and you’re cancelling the whole lot of it — it’s heart-wrenching and really sad.”
She said many airlines were offering credits rather than refunds, but giving customers about two years to rebook.
Ms Hassall said travel agents had just entered their peak booking season, with people wanting to escape the winter, and hoped borders would soon reopen.
“At this time of year people would be looking to somewhere warm, so South Pacific destinations like Fiji, Vanuatu and the Cook Islands.
“Ideally we hope the tropical north opens up, or the WA coastline, so people can start to get away for those holidays.
“The ski season also sounds like it’s going to take off and is opening, so that would be a good option as well.”
While many holidaymakers choose to jump online to book getaways, Ms Hassall encouraged locals to book through an agent, who can often find cheaper deals.
“A lot of online booking engines have foreign ownership, whereas if you book with a local business, our margins are built into the majority of what we sell.
“So you’re actually not paying more by going through us as opposed to online, because we have a lot of different avenues we can search and most of the time we can get actually get it cheaper.
“People have that perception that booking over the internet is cheaper, whereas a lot of the time it’s not.”
Helloworld Travel’s Pine Avenue store reopened on Monday and is operating on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10am to 3pm.
The Mildura Central store is open on Tuesdays and Fridays from 10am to 3pm.
