Gateway2Travel closes, leaving agents footing the bill

AGENTS who have been
left out of pocket following
the sudden closure
of hotel booking engine,
Gateway2Travel, are asking
questions about how they will
be compensated.
The head office of
Gateway2Travel, which is in
Belgium, filed for bankruptcy
on April 7, forcing the South
African office to shut down with
immediate effect.
Rob van Kesteren, sales
manager of Gateway South
Africa, told TNW the company’s
woes started when it began
experiencing problems in
Europe with its flight engine
product a few years ago.
“Huge investments were done
to make that department
profitable again but, in the
end, this did not work out so
we decided to sell the flight
department and only focus on
the profitable hotel booking
engine.”
The flight department was
sold last month. “We were
happy to continue with the
online hotel booking engine
for travel agents but the
bank forced us to stop all
operations,” Rob says. “Bank
accounts were frozen, meaning
no payments could be made
by Gateway to hotels. This was
very unexpected.”
Travel agents will be
contacted directly by hotel
vendors who have taken over
many of the bookings, Rob
says. These include Exclusively,
JacTravel, Tourico and
Vakantiebed. “Gateway2Travel
SA will keep SA travel agents
updated by email.”
He adds that agents should
double check which bookings
were paid for and which were
not. “It is not possible to make
new bookings in the booking
engine, however the site is still
available and all bookings can
be retrieved. If agents haven’t
heard from hotel vendors, they
should contact the vendor and
ensure they know whether their
clients can check in or not.”
However, agents have
complained that they have
been unable to make contact
with the hotel vendors. One
agent told TNW her agency paid
out of its own pocket to secure
clients’ bookings. “We hadn’t
heard back from Gateway or
the vendors and we had clients
checking in this past weekend
[April 8] so we had to pay for
them,” the agent said.
Rob says agents who had
bookings made with Gateway
at the time of its closing can
submit their claims to
Daniel Libbens (Daniel.libens@
skynet.be) and Paul Odeurs
(paul.odeurs@skynet.be).
Daniel and Paul are the
curators who have been
assigned to formalise and
follow up on the bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, Advocate Louis
Nel says Gateway2Travel SA
may be in breach of contract
with agents and, as such,
agents could lay a charge of
fraud against the company
with the South African Police
Service. “Agents should
start by considering the
contracts entered into or
signed between themselves
and Gateway2Travel and take
into account any terms and
conditions implied over and
above these agreements,” he
told TNW.
Payment terms and
guarantees or warrantees
should also be considered,
he said. Agents can then
challenge any payments made,
such as credit card payments,
which can be reversed.
“Once a case of fraud is
laid with the SAPS, agents
can write to the Gateway
head office advising of the
situation and requesting their
assistance,” says Louis.
“Subject to the outcome of
the above, action could be
taken against the directors/
owners of Gateway2Travel head
office in Belgium for reckless
trading.”