Happy Vacations has been in business for almost 40 years. They started as Happi Tours in Saratoga, California in 1969. In the past years, the company expanded from Hawaii vacations to include Mexico, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific.
And yesterday they shut their doors, at least temporarily.
In a press release today the company stated that they had been working with “a number of interested parties” but “had yet to obtain the needed funds and have no choice, at least in the interim, to cease current operations.
After 40 years in the business we at Happy Vacations are heart-broken about the turn of events and our difficult decision to disrupt our current operations. We truly appreciate the support and concern from our Travel Agency and vendor partners. We apologize for any disruption, inconvenience or losses.
Happy Vacations said that they are working with other travel providers to help their clients. And Classic Vacations, for example, has already emailed agents about helping with any potential problem bookings.
There were rumors that Happy Vacations had been late in commission payments, and I haven’t booked them in a while, but they were a strong company for many years.
It would be nice if this were the last tour operator obituary for a while. But that might be wishful thinking. If nothing else, it is another cautionary tale to consider purchasing travel insurance from someone other than the travel supplier itself, and to always pay with a credit card.
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I am so sad about HV closing. Their South Pacific staff was fantastic and our Seattle rep one of the best. A good reminder that even a company with good
service can fail, so clients should take other insurance.