Aryyve Vacations, a vacation packager based in Sheridan, Wyoming, has abruptly shuttered operations, leaving travel advisors and their clients scrambling.
On Aug. 2, an advisor working with the wholesaler said Aryvve sent an email notifying advisors that the company had ceased operations that day, citing "ongoing deterioration of our financial standing."
The company said all flight reservations from Aug. 2 onward "remain secure and unaffected," but that's not the case for other travel arrangements.
"Regrettably, from 8/5/2024, alternate booking solutions will be necessary for all land-related arrangements encompassing hotels, transfers, trains and tours," the statement read. "We advise all our esteemed customers to swiftly seek out alternative arrangements with other reputable carriers for their upcoming travel needs."
The website for Aryyve Vacations remains active but all social media accounts for the company have been shut down or temporarily disabled. An email sent to the address listed for the company's support team failed to be delivered when Travel Weekly reached out for comment.
Impact to travel advisors
Rachel Battles, an agent at Main Street Travel in Front Royal, Va., said she's been scrambling to rebook her clients on such short notice since news of the shutdown, which came as an "utter shock."
Rachel Battles
"This closing is a gut punch to our small agency," Battles said. "First, it was the manner in which the news was communicated -- the email sent Friday morning to agents' mailboxes. When we attempted to contact Aryyve, the agent support was no longer in service."
Battles has six clients who were booked and paid in full for travel in 2024, but her agency overall has even more clients impacted by the shutdown. She is currently rebooking arrangements for a newlywed couple who married on Aug. 3 and planned to be in London on Aug. 5, but had their confirmed prepaid suite canceled. Battles said the property could not provide details about who made the cancellation.
"I had to make a call to the mother of the groom two hours before the ceremony and apprise her of the situation," Battles said.
Several of Battles' clients who were already in Europe at the time of the shutdown discovered that their hotel stays scheduled for the end of their trip had been canceled.
Unusual signs turned into red flags
In hindsight, Battles said there were some unusual signs at times in her dealings with the company. For example, there seemed to be a staff no larger than the president and two other support personnel, which eventually dwindled down to just one staffer about two to three months ago.
The president of the company, cited on the Aryyve website in January 2023 as Mo Ahmed, seemed to be the only person with whom Main Street Travel primarily communicated, Battles said, and that he was often the only one who could substantively answer questions that other employees could not.
Working with Aryyve's booking technology was a challenge, Battles said. Aryyve was "primarily a booking engine as opposed to a comprehensive travel planning tool," and that its software required a "high level of manual intervention" to develop quotes, complete online bookings, add transfers and select flights, Battles said.
The biggest warning signs came when commissions started to become routinely late, with some payments not coming in until six to eight weeks after clients had returned from travel, and only after calls were made to the president, who would then wire commission payments directly, Battles said.
Then on July 18, Battles said Aryyve's president made an unusual request, which she saw as a red flag: Aryyve offered her clients a $100 credit if they paid off their account balance by close of business the next day on July 19, which Battles said was likely an attempt to quickly raise cash.
While she's frustrated, Battles said Main Street Travel is handling the rebookings and absorbing any cost differences for rebooked arrangements that are now higher in price for some trips.
"Some costs you can quantify," Battles said, such as the cost of rebooking prior confirmed reservations at a higher cost that either the agency will absorb or the client. But, Battles added, "Costs you cannot readily quantify are immeasurable, including trust in and the reputation of the travel advisor. We are plowing through it amid angst, anger and anxiety."
Main Street Travel said it is urging its clients with Aryyve Vacations bookings to investigate transactions on their personal cards for any activity from the company and to file a dispute for any charges from Aug. 2 onward.
Once they've settled new arrangements for clients, Battles said Main Street Travel is already working on ways to improve best practices when working with certain suppliers in order to provide the utmost protection for their clients and their business.
"We are in conversations and have demos scheduled with another larger, reputable travel wholesaler," Battles said. "We will also be reviewing our business model and practices on protecting the agency's clients moving forward."