Calis Beach and Fethiye Turkey Discussion Forum
Turkey Related Subjects => Turkey Discussion Forum (Not Calis specifically) => Topic started by: Jacqui Harvey on February 05, 2017, 22:20:19 PM
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This piece was on Trip Advisor. It may be of help to some members. Please note, it is not my original post.
A new tour operator, Fairlight Jones, has set up, covering Kalkan and the surrounding area. A little digging has revealed that Andrew Lee is behind this. He was the main director and shareholder of Exclusive Escapes, which went under owing several million Pounds just 18 months ago. Exclusive Escapes provided a good service but they encouraged punters to purchase their holidays many months in advance by offering attracting early booking upgrades and discounts.
They lived on their future income. And when the Turkish holiday market crashed, they ran out of cash, leaving hotels, airlines and any guests who did not have ATOL protection fully exposed.
Andrew Lee was also a director of Tapestry Holidays, another Turkey specialist that went under several years ago.
And he's back again. With a website that looks very similar to the old Exclusive Escapes. And promises of rewarding those who book early. How can he even be permitted to act as a director and hold an ATOL licence with a recent track record like this?
Supposedly he has more financial protection this time, but there are a lot of other operators out there offering great properties and service, and I for one will be giving this new company a miss.
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A little digging came up with this
Personal Information Status Position Appointments Report
United Kingdom Andrew Lee
06/05/2016 - Present (9 months)
Born in Jun 1963 (age: 53)
Active Director
Current: 1
Past: 0
View Report
Turkey Yuksel Malik Sahin
09/06/2016 - Present (7 months)
Born in Sep 1966 (age: 50)
Active Director
Current: 1
Past: 0
View Report
United Kingdom Matthew James Flint
09/06/2016 - Present (7 months)
Born in Sep 1965 (age: 51)
Active Director
Current: 3
Past: 0
View Report
United Kingdom Stuart Michael Kerr
09/06/2016 - Present (7 months)
Born in Jun 1973 (age: 43)
Active Director
Current: 3
Past: 1
View Report
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Afraid this does happen. Nick Wrightman was the other director of the original Tapestry, then formed Tapestry Collection which also went under. Now fronts Discerning Collection.
Also Elixir holidays which went under last year, director of this was formerly the director of Savile which also went under a few years before.
Strangely, all these companies feature Kalkan and Kas heavily in their portfolios so hoteliers must be willing to work with them. They must be aware of their past dealings.