The string of travel agencies that collapse and leave stranded travelers in their wake continues.
Between the high cost of jet fuel and the ease with which customers can book their own airfare and hotel without an intermediary, a number of travel agencies that had previously been operating for decades ended up closing down shop in 2026.
Some recently-shut names include Trav Expert, Groupia, Salamander Voyages and Sky Yodl in the United Kingdom, AVG Travels in Australia, Go Play Tour Sports in Boston and Vegas Vacations and North America Destinations in Canada. And in the small Eastern European nation of Bulgaria, this list can be expanded with a registered agency named Robinson Tours.
Robinson Tours files for bankruptcy in Bulgarian court
The travel agency, which was registered in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, declared a state of insolvency to a local court. Prior to this, Robinson Tours sold tour packages that included a charter flight, hotel stays, and guided sightseeing within the country.
The bulk of its customer base was Hungarian but also included travelers from all over the world, Americans included, coming in from other parts of Europe.
As some of these travelers described to local news outlets, they received text messages saying that trips that in some cases were supposed to start in just a few days in mid-August were canceled.
Messages directed travelers “not go to the airport, unfortunately we are forced to cancel your trip.”
In a letter that the travel agency later sent to its customers, it blamed a combination of factors including the spike in jet fuel prices due to the war in Iran and lower tourist interest in Bulgaria this year compared to past ones on top of heightened competition as the reasons that it became abruptly unable to pay its creditors.
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“Do not go to the airport, unfortunately we are forced to cancel your trip”
“Robinson Tours EOOD no longer possesses the financial means necessary to meet its prescribed obligations,” the letter reads.
The travel agency asked anyone with canceled trips to reach out to it for refunds, which it is promising to honor through its insurance with Sofia-based Axiom Insurance Company. Anyone with booked travel is instructed not to go to the airport as the trip will not take place.
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Other travel agencies that filed for bankruptcy in 2026:
- AVG Travels: The Melbourne-based travel agency selling cheap vacation packages to travelers in Australia and New Zealand sent more than 200 travelers an email saying that the trips were canceled before entering bankruptcy in May 2026.
- GoPlay Sports: In April 2026, the men’s basketball team of the University of Dallas was left without a planned trip to compete in the United Kingdom after Boston-based GoPlay Sports Tours LLC accepted two payments of $30,000 and then went unreachable.
- Havantur: Havantur was forced to shut down its main European office in Franceat the start of 2026 after tourist numbers to the Caribbean country plummeted due to U.S. military actions in Venezuela and threats against the country.
- Vegas Vacations and North America Destinations: Two travel agencies in the Canadian province of British Columbia, Vegas Vacations and North America Destinations, were shut down by regulators within a few days of each other in January 2026 after multiple travelers complained of buying trips with invalid plane tickets and hotel bookings.
Related: 22-year-old travel company in bankruptcy, to liquidate
