‘Nightmarish situation’: Victorian travel agent Syon Travels collapses

An Australian travel and booking agency has abruptly shut down with the owner indicating plans to place the business into liquidation.

An Australian travel and booking agency has abruptly shut down with the owner indicating plans to place the business into liquidation in what they have described as a “nightmarish situation”.

Earlier this month, Victorian-headquartered business Syon Travels informed customers they had “failed” and the business had ceased operating.

“We are deeply saddened to announce that our company Syon Travels is currently in the liquidation process,” a social media post read.

“We tried every avenue possible to keep the company afloat, however, we failed.”

The next day, operation manager Nani Ram Aryal took to social media again, presumably after a lot of messages, emphasising that he took “sole responsibilities (sic)” for the situation.

“But no one except my self (sic) is responsible for this nightmarish situation to happen,” Aryal wrote.

News.com.au has contacted Syon Travels for comment.

The travel agency has ceased operating.

Syon Travels made the announcement earlier this month.

No liquidator has yet been appointed, according to ASIC records.

Syon Travels was an entity part of Syon Group of Companies Pty Ltd, with strong links to Nepal.

There were other trading businesses in the group of companies, including Syon Remit, a service that allowed money transfers to Nepal, and also Syon Health and Syon Business Hub.

It’s unclear if the other businesses have been impacted, although they are all registered under the same Australian Business Number.

Many advertisements related to cheap deals to Nepal, and some customers who missed out also had made bookings to travel to the country.

Syon Travels said to contact [e-mail] if debts were outstanding, but made no guarantee they would be paid.

“That will help us to pass this onto our liquidators as well as keep record for ourselves as we are determined to have every customer reimbursed.”

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A sister company of Syon Travel.

The company appears to have strong Nepalese links.

Some customers only learned of the company’s demise when they arrived at the airport and realised their bookings – which they had paid for – had never been made, according to 7NEWS.

Niranjana Chaudhary told the broadcaster she had booked a trip to visit family in Nepal but now has no idea what will happen to her money or if she will be able to afford booking the tickets all over again.

“I’ve worked double night shifts just to go and spend some quality time with my family, so they’re just playing with our emotions,” she said.

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Originally published as ‘Nightmarish situation’: Victorian travel agent Syon Travels collapses