You save all year for your vacation and you have great plans for the time of your life – until a tour operator rips the rug out from under your feet. With no advance notice or even rumblings, tour operator Conquest Vacations abruptly shut down its operations on April 15th stranding travelers who had already reached their destinations and leaving in doubt the travel plans of those who had not yet departed.

Conquest was not a new kid on the block. They had been operating for 37 years. With bookings for about 1 million travelers per year, Conquest earned approximately $200 million in revenue which amounted to a 7% market share of the packaged tour market. That, however, was not sufficient to keep them in business. They blame the economic situation, prices wars, and unrealistic and unreasonable demands by credit companies as the reasons that they shut down.

On April 15th they posted this notice on their website:

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Conquest Vacations Inc. announced today the cessation of its tour operations effective immediately.

Customers who are booked and paid using cash/check through a travel agency are requested to contact their respective agency who will assist you with respect to a refund or claim.

Customers who have booked directly with Conquest Vacations will have already been contacted.

Customers who have booked and paid for their future travel using a credit card should contact their credit card issuing institution for a refund.

Conquest Vacations regrets the inconvenience caused to the passengers due to cessation of its operations. Unfortunately this has been a result of overcapacity and price war among the major tour operators, unrealistic and unreasonable demands by the credit card processing companies, credit squeeze and economic turmoil in recent months making it impossible for companies like Conquest to continue in business even after weathering many storms over the past 37 years.

If you are a passenger scheduled to return Thursday, April 16 to Tuesday, April 21 on ACV

Air Canada Vacations (AVC) is advising agents and passengers that all Conquest passengers booked with Air Canada currently at destination will return home as scheduled. AVC will make every effort to provide agents with assistance in accommodating customers with their travel plans. For any assistance, agents can call 1-877-752-7710 or contact the customer care team at 1-800-296-3408.

CanJet, West Jet, and Air Canada have made statements saying that they will honour return flights and get stranded passengers home, but they will not honour future bookings. Some stranded Conquest travelers were being forced to pay enormous amounts of money for the things that they had already paid for – hotels, travel to the airport, and in some cases flights home. Many Canadians in Mexico called the Canadian consulate in Cancun to ask for advice and assistance. They were told to pay the amounts asked for because the consulate didn’t know anything about Mexican law. If that is the case then the Canadian consulate has no purpose or function and I suggest that we shut it down and end the taxpayer funded permanent vacation that the officials are enjoying.

If you were one of the stranded travelers and you are now back home there are measures that you can take to recoup your money providing that you have a receipt from the hotel and/or transfer company in exchange for payment to support you claim. Contact the Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO)  to request a claim form. You can do this by phone 1-888-451-8426 or (905) 624-6241 or by email tico@tico.ca. If you purchased a package from Conquest and have not taken your holiday, the Ontario Travel Industry Compensation Fund may reimburse you for travel services that you purchased from Conquest that were never provided. You can request a claim form from TICO at the same email address.