THE abrupt closure of travel and coach company Five Stars Tours on Wednesday has left thousands of travellers across Singapore in the lurch, mere weeks before the Lunar New Year holidays.
Dynasty Travel’s marketing communications director, Alicia Seah, said Dynasty is currently advising stranded customers on the procedure for claiming travel insurance. As of yesterday, Dynasty has received over 50 of such calls.
She said: “This could not have happened at a more unfortunate time because many of the affected travellers are waiting to go back to Malaysia for Lunar New Year.” As such, Seah said the company would charter a 35-seater bus to take affected passengers to Kuala Lumpur on Jan 29 for free.
The Express Excursion Bus Association (EEBA) has also pledged to help these passengers by offering them discounted tickets.
According to Joe Lim, executive director, Konsortium Express and Tours members like his company are now on standby to advise travellers and are also sourcing for alternative means of transport for them.
Weighing in on the coach business, Lim said it is still “thriving”, although last year’s bookings have dipped slightly by about 10 per cent.
“The coach business depends mainly on the Singapore-Malaysia route and it still is a good business with constant demand,” he said.
A travel consultant who declined to be named said: “Five Stars Tours has always been one of the aggressive advertisers in the trade but in recent years we have seen how their marketing activities have scaled down significantly…which was already a telltale sign.
Susan Teng, chairman outbound of NATAS, said: “Presently, we have managed to get in touch with the management staff of Five Stars Tours, however, we are not yet able to ascertain the exact number of customers who have been affected by the closure.
“Customers who have purchased travel insurance prior to the closure should seek out their insurance providers to see if there is any form of recourse available to them,” she said.
