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Allen Au-yeung

Kwan Kin Travel Services, a Hong Kong travel agency with over 30 years of history, abruptly suspended its operation on Thursday after it ran out of disposable cash.
The sudden closure left 52 employees of the travel agency out of work and disrupted holiday plans of 1,500 customers ahead of Easter, according to the management of Kwan Kin which had its travel agent licence revoked by the government yesterday.
The management said an unnamed creditor filed a petition to wind up the company recently.
The court proceeding triggered banks to freeze its accounts and the company could not sustain its operation.

The amount of funds frozen amounted to HK$1.7 million, said the managers.
Explaining reasons for the closure yesterday at the agency’s flagship branch in Causeway Bay, Andy Yip Tak-ming, assistant general manager of Kwan Kin Travel Services, said he and the agency’s general manager, Franky Lam-hoi, unexpectedly received a message yesterday morning from the company director, surnamed Fang.
Fang, also a shareholder of Kwan Kin, said in the message he had decided to “abandon” the company as it had been embroiled in financial disputes and management conflicts internally.
Yip and Lam also accused a former assistant general manager, surnamed Hui, to have misappropriated HK$1 million from the company, an allegation which Hui later denied in another press conference in Admiralty.
Fang was not present at the briefing at Causeway Bay and his whereabouts remained unknown to the employees of the agency.
Yip said the last time he saw Fang, who joined Kwan Kin three years ago, was on March 12.
Immediately after the briefing, Yip announced he received a call saying an unnamed investor from Mainland China was willing to offer HK$5 million to start a new tour agency with Kwan Kin employees and would seek to apply for a new travel agent licence.
According to Yip, Kwan Kin owed an estimate of HK$550,000 in unpaid salaries and HK$430,000 in rent arrears.
Among the over 20 agency employees at the press conference at Causeway Bay was Wilson Chung, who had worked at Kwan Kin for 12 years as a tour guide.
Chung said he was owed over HK$10,000 in wages and said he was still trying to work out his next move.
Founded in 1982, Kwan Kin mainly operated budget tours to attractions in Mainland China and Southeast Asia.
Responding to the incident, tourism sector legislator Yiu Si-wing said he believed the closure of Kwan Kin arose from internal conflicts within the management of the tour agency.
Meanwhile, the Travel Agents Registry had activated the application for compensation fund for affected customers of Kwan Kin, who were eligible to apply for a sum of up to 90 per cent of the outbound fare lost.
One affected traveller, surnamed Ma, who booked a HK$4,000 three-day trip to Mainland China, went to Kwan Kin’s branch office in Mong Kok yesterday to find out what happened but no one was at the office.
“I got a message at 8pm on [Wednesday] saying the trip was cancelled and there would be compensations,” Ma said. “I will go to the Travel Industry Council. I’m disappointed. The money is gone.
The hotline of the Travel Industry Compensation Fund Management Board Secretariat is 3151-7945 and that of the Travel Industry Council is 2969-8188.


Hong Kong travel agency suspends operations after more than three decades

Franky Lam (left) and Andy Yip with agency staff meet the media about the sudden suspension of operations. Photo: Nora Tam

Kwan Kin Tours branch closed for business in Causeway Bay. 24MAR16 SCMP/Nora Tam

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Hong Kong

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Services halted at all seven branches of Kwan Kin Travel Services


Hong Kong travel agency suspends operations after more than three decades

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Services halted at all seven branches of Kwan Kin Travel Services

Services halted at all seven branches of Kwan Kin Travel Services