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ATA Tours not operating

Travel agent, “Dave”, asks the question: are ATA tours on the way out?   

A customer booked a 10 coast and Karijini tour through my web sight with Adventure Tours, I first did the quote for these two people on the 27 June 2012, I checked all availability and all ok, customers deposited the money.

Upon booking these trips with Adventure tours for January I was told that these tours are not running, reason being no one was booked on!

Quite understandably as it’s a long time away, however a month earlier it was available and ATA would have taken the booking.

The question is: would they have dropped/bumped these customers on the 11th hour?

If so, to what tour ? As they have bought everything in the west coast ,and as far as I know, no one else is doing a coast and Karijini 10 day tour, I can’t understand why they’d cancel this tour so far out.

One can only come to a conclusion that ATA is on the way out after all these years, it’s a shame really as there is nothing left now in the west.

By: Dave, Travel Agent

By Anonymous  ·  August 8th, 2012 at 12:42 pm

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Comments


  1. Lucifer
    8 Aug 12
    3:32 pm

    2. Correction there is a small locally owned and run company called Aussie Wanderer running west coast tours, great ethos, good vehicles, good times
    Aussiewander.com.au

    Error minor Daley boy

  2. Tommy
    8 Aug 12
    3:36 pm

    3. ‘Dave’…as anyone knows who operates tours; occasional cancellations are part and parcel of any active yield policy.

    So is ‘bumping’ and offloading passenger to a competitors tour if you own does not have the numbers to reach break-even numbers.

    I have heard that Wayoutback are currently offloading to Adventure Tours in the NT? Does this mean they are also on the way out? No…it probably means their new programs are slow to take off and they are not getting the critical mass required to justify running a ‘stand-alone’ tour.

  3. Reap what you sow
    8 Aug 12
    4:05 pm

    4. So agents fall over themselves to book the same massive tour company for years, ignoring the smaller, passionate local operators and then one day they are SHOCKED to find that they no longer have any other options left – amazing how that works isn’t it?

    It would serve them right if that one massive tour company then turned around and told them it was 10% commission on everything from now on… if you don’t like it, who are you going to sell instead??

  4. Olga
    8 Aug 12
    5:28 pm

    5. Adventure Tours like all other tour operators – big and small have booking policies and cancellation T&C’s to ensure all passengers have the best experience with like minded people on tour. What Tommy has written above it spot on. Unfortunately at times cancellations are necessary.

    After many years in business, customer service is ATA’s number one priority. It always has been and to imply that we would drop our customers at the 11th hour is unreasonable. The tour was cancelled well in advance to give any affected passengers enough time to make alternate travel arrangements.

    I’d also like to take the opportunity to say that ATA currently have a strong focus on the West Coast.

    Only yesterday we announced the launch of our brand new ‘Get on Board’ Day Tour out of Perth. (We’ve called it that as one of the highlights is sand boarding – which we know is always a hit with the passengers). We’re excited about it. The WA market is crying out for a cheap, fun and adventurous day trip. We listened, and we will deliver!

    Feel free to contact us for more info: marketing@adventuretours.com.au

    Cheers, Olga
    ATA Marketing Manager

  5. Clarky
    8 Aug 12
    9:20 pm

    6. Yeah right, thank you “Dave” not only for taking your precious time to inform us a large company cancelled a departure 6 months out due to low numbers, but thank you very much for making this realistic conclusion for me. Of course that means ATA are going under. Even if you are wrong, which I greatly doubt since you have obviously a great deal of industry experience I now know ATA are the only tour company in WA. Or was that just an opening for someone to plug their product?

  6. Anon
    9 Aug 12
    9:10 am

    7. @Tommy, I smell a rat! Why would ATA allow Wayoutback to offload to them?!

    Wayoutback are the new product. ATA are the established product. Surely by allowing offloads, ATA give Wayoutback a foot in the door and are able to establish their new product. Why would a travel agent book the new product if it was being bumped to the old product?

    Yet again, this is what is wrong with the industry at the moment along with high commissions.

    The word on the street in Darwin is that ATA will pull out their Kakadu services by next dry season leaving an open market for companies such as Wayoutback. I wonder when ATA Central Australia will follow.

    For what it is worth, I can see the West Coast leading the way to the new era. ATA will pull out allowing smaller operators to set up again. Then ATA will contract out their bookings to these smaller operators, in a similar fashion to what Greyhound Australia do with their partner products. This would allow them to sell daily departures without having the difficulties of running daily departures! Spreading the love accross the industry and reverting to what went on a decade ago.

    This will be followed by the East Coast operations and maybe then the Red Centre.

    ATA as an individual company ceased to exist years ago. I think the only way to remain viable would be to act as the big brother to smaller operators. Whether there are enough innovative people still in the industry to be brave enough to set up small companies remains to be seen. Interesting times ahead once again!

  7. Clarky
    9 Aug 12
    11:14 am

    8. @ anon. Wishful thinking. ATA has always allowed competitors to bump pax onto their product. By doing this they have an opurtunity to build the reputation of their own tours and get agents to book ATA as a first response. But I’m sure you already knew that.

    As far as ATA quitting operations Oz wide, well I guess this forum is a great way to start ridiculous rumors.

  8. Anonamouse
    9 Aug 12
    1:21 pm

    9. @Anon. Hit a raw nerve there Clarky? Do you work for ATA by chance?

    BTW that old chestnut about other companies building your reputation is ridiculous and very short sighted. They have brainwashed you well!

  9. Dave
    15 Aug 12
    11:22 am

    10. I wasn’t bagging ATA at all, I’m booking them today in fact, my concerns are why are they bumping and cancelling 6 months out, I can’t understand this that’s why I asked you lot.

  10. Barfly
    15 Aug 12
    3:13 pm

    11. 6-months out is better than 6-days out I would have thought. Jetstar cancelled my international flight 6-hours out over the weekend. Even another day out would have helped, because Jetstar certainly didn’t want to help.

  11. Tony
    15 Aug 12
    3:26 pm

    12. Dave at 11:22 am has posed an interesting question.

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