Vantage Travel was also pilloried on two newly created Facebook group pages after customers who lost as much as $50,000 vented their anger at the company and its founder and owner Hank Lewis.
But now a new company, Vantage Explorations, formed from the ashes of the bankrupt company, is ignoring the bankruptcy and $100 million lost and embracing Vantage Travel's roots in selling tours around the world. .
Vantage Explorations, owned by an Australian-based company, is already taking guests on polar expeditions to Antarctica and has new cruises planned to Latin America and Scotland in the spring, and to the Mediterranean next year. .
In a recent email sent to potential customers (and this Globe reporter), Vantage Explorations extolled the virtues of Vantage Travel that have undoubtedly stumped about 10,000 customers, many of them elderly.
The email, decorated with numerous color photographs of attractive tourist destinations, begins: “For nearly 40 years, Vantage Travel has curated extraordinary experiences, guiding more than 500,000 travelers on unforgettable river and small boat cruises and small-group land adventures.” Safaris on all continents. ”
But nowhere in the five-paragraph email does Vantage Explorations mention that its predecessor company went bankrupt at the expense of its customers.
The email said Pacific Travel Partners, which operates Vantage Explorations and is owned by Australia-based Aurora Expeditions, and Vantage Travel's “assets have found a new home in 2023.” , making only the most elusive mention of it. The company spent his $2 million on a vast estate, Vantage's only asset, in a bankruptcy auction. List of customers. I also got the right to use the name.
“Today, we proudly operate as Vantage Explorations, continuing our tradition of providing unparalleled travel and exploration to passionate travelers like you,” the email said. Masu.
“There was a lot of surprise that the new owners were using the Vantage brand, given the damage the brand has done, let alone promoting its 40-year history,” said the unfortunate former Vantage Traveler. said Marnie Brown, who helps manage the book group. client. “All you need to do to find out about bankruptcy is a quick search online.”
“I think email is going to be off-putting to a lot of people,” said consumer advocate Michelle Kuche Friedman, who has been closely following the Vantage Travel case.
“But it's definitely aimed at appealing to customers who are on Vantage Travel's contact list,” she said.
Asked about the company's omission to mention bankruptcy, Aurora CEO Michael Heath reiterated praise for Vantage Travel that was included in the company's marketing emails. Ta. “So far, the response to Vantage Explorations has been very positive,” he added.
Andrew N. Smith, a marketing professor at Suffolk University's Sawyer School of Business, said he understands why Vantage Explorations would cover up Vantage Travel's bankruptcy.
“I understand the company's concerns about mentioning bankruptcy,” he said. “From a marketing perspective, there is no benefit to introducing this negative connotation into the equation. [Vantage Explorations] We need to communicate a change in our corporate structure and move towards a more customer-centric message about the romance of travel. ”
Toby Berkowitz, a veteran media consultant and professor emeritus at Boston University, said Aurora is pursuing a smart strategy, especially by sending mass e-mails to its vast customer list.
“This is a great list of contacts for people who have actually traveled with Vantage Travel or have expressed an interest in Vantage Travel,” he said. “That's gold.”
Berkowitz said the email “may be poignant” for people who lost money in bankruptcy. “But even if you're not one of those people, you might be very interested in Vantage Explorations.”
Vantage Travel's bankruptcy case is currently ongoing, and the bankruptcy trustee is looking for additional assets that may belong to the bankrupt company that could be distributed to creditors such as jilted customers. .
Judge Janet E. Bostwick of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Boston ordered Vantage Travel's name and contact list to be updated with a provision that would give Vantage Travel customers whose trips were canceled a limited credit for travel with Vantage Explorations. Approved the sale to Aurora. Customers can use their credit to pay up to 1/2 for sea trips and up to 20 percent for river trips. Credit he will expire after 5 years.
There is little expectation that Vantage Travel will issue large refunds to former customers, but there may be some hope that the company's owner, Lewis, will be held responsible.
The attorneys general of New York and Pennsylvania sued him personally to recover some of the millions of dollars owed to clients.
“Due to the alleged conduct… [Lewis and Vantage] According to the lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, the company “engaged in repeated and persistent fraud.”
Asked for an update, a spokesperson for the New York State Attorney General's Office said: “Mr. Lewis has retained an attorney and the case is ongoing.”
Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry filed a similar lawsuit last year, accusing Lewis personally (and the Vantage company) of engaging in illegal “deceptive and unfair business practices.”
A spokeswoman for the firm said the case is ongoing.
Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell's office supports the efforts of the attorneys general in New York and Pennsylvania and is in regular contact with them, a spokeswoman said.
Multiple emails seeking comment on Lewis' behalf were sent to Lewis' bankruptcy attorney listed in filings in the New York case, but no response was received. An email sent to Mr. Lewis' previous Vantage address was “undeliverable,” and emails to other Vantage executives seeking comment on Mr. Lewis' behalf went unanswered.
Rob Hart, who paid Vantage Travel $30,000 last year for a now-canceled safari he was scheduled to take with his 81-year-old mother, said he continues to monitor the bankruptcy case and the lawsuit against Lewis. Ta.
But he said there were no practical problems with Vantage Explorations' marketing campaign.
“It's very cunning not to intervene in the weeds regarding bankruptcy,” he said. “But Vantage Explorations is not the enemy. They are acting in their best business interests. All we want is justice from Vantage Travel and Hank Lewis. ”
Have a problem? Send consumer issues to sean.murphy@globe.com.follow him @spmurphy Boston.
