Garuda Orient Holidays to Close Operations in Australia

SYDNEY, May 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Garuda Orient Holidays, an Indonesian owned travel arrangement company, will be closing operations in Australia. The decision to close the company's Sydney and Perth office has been based on financial reasons.

The airline company, Garuda Indonesia, is not affected by this in any way.

Beanca Daluz, General Manager, said that tough business conditions were to blame for the closure. This is due to the changing nature of the industry which has made it difficult for travel companies to survive. Online Travel Agents have permanently altered the business model and more people are making their own arrangements online, forcing traditional travel arrangers redundant.

"We would like to assure our customers who have purchased their holiday with us that the travel arrangements they have purchased through us will be honoured or refunded if they wish," said Ms Daluz. "People who have paid a deposit can elect to pay in full before 31^st May 2016 or get a refund of their deposit."

"We are also working with employees during this difficult time to minimise the impact of the closure," Ms Daluz said. "We are attempting to find jobs for staff in other parts of the Garuda Indonesia Group."

Note to editors    

• Garuda Orient Holidays has 17 employees in its Sydney and Perth Office.
• Customers with land bookings departing prior to 31 May 2016 will be unaffected.
• Any land bookings departing after 31 May 2016 and before 1 August 2016 passengers will have an option to
  • a) Pay in full to finalise their booking prior to 31 May 2016 or
  • b) Cancel their booking and a refund will be finalised prior to 30 June 2016.
• Any land bookings travelling after 1 August 2016 will need to be cancelled and submitted for a full refund prior to 31 May 2016.