Good News From TravelBrands?

TravelBrands – which counts 12 wholesale and five retail brands under its corporate umbrella – may soon emerge from creditor protection.

Zeina Gedeon, the company’s new CEO, told PressToday’s Mike Baginski, “I will assure you, it’s not going to be very long whatsoever… And hopefully in the next week we will have very good news… It is very positive.”

She admits, “because TravelBrands is not communicating very much, it makes it sound worse than it is.”

Mississauga, Ont.-based TravelBrands, best known for tour divisions like Sunquest, Holiday House, Intair and retailers Belair Travel and Red Tag Vacations, entered CCAA creditor protection in May to deal with what the company termed “certain isolated legacy issues” (known to be its deals with Sears Travel and leases on office space) from its takeover of Thomas Cook Canada. The hiring last week of the high profile Gedeon (who had left a post as VP of Air Canada last year), is seen as a coup and a clear statement of intent from TravelBrands on its future.

Gedeon admits there is serious restructuring to come under her direction at the company, but that she wouldn’t have taken the post if she wasn’t certain of success and a bright future. “It’s a viable company… it’s a stable company… and it is business as usual… [we] are going through CCAA, but that is a small blip in a big really big picture that we want to accomplish and get to in the next several years.” she says.

See the full interview with Gedeon in the upcoming Sept. 21 issue of Canadian Travel Press.