Credit Herald

The role of the Travel Industry Council of Ontario in the collapse of financially-troubled Conquest Vacations Inc. needs to be examined, says the head of a non-profit association of North American travel agents.

Bruce Bishins, president of the Association of Retail Travel Agents, called for the inquiry after after TICO president Michael Pepper said he was considering an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Conquest’s failure.

"It’s all fine and well for Mr. Pepper to suggest that they’re now going to investigate Conquest, but what really should be investigated is TICO itself," Bishins said yesterday. "TICO had the authority, and has the responsibility, to verify the financial conditions of all of its registrants."

The council, charged with overseeing the Ontario Travel Industry Act, knew of Conquest’s financial woes and met with the company in March, giving the vacation packager until April 14 to drum up working capital or face suspension. A day after the deadline, Conquest folded.

Yesterday, Pepper said TICO plans to examine Conquest’s financial records direct faxless payday loans.

"We have the ability and the power to do it. It’s something we have done in the past and certainly we will be looking at that," Pepper said.

When Conquest shut down Wednesday it left thousands stranded in Mexico and the Caribbean. Soon after, reports surfaced that some hotels were refusing to let travellers leave without paying hotel bills out of their own pockets, in some cases confiscating passports and threatening legal action.

Meanwhile, there is the issue of getting an estimated 550 travellers back home. Pepper said his staff spent the weekend contacting hotel operators to assure them TICO would cover any fees they lost with the organization’s compensation fund. He estimated the entire operation could cost more than $2 million.

Errol Francis, Conquest’s president, has not responded to interview requests from the Star.

Money from the fund is expected to reach hotels this morning.

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