Teletext Holidays
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2024) |
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Type of site | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1992 |
| Headquarters | Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom, WC2H 9JQ |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Industry | Travel, tourism |
| Products | Package Holidays, Cruises, Hotels |
| Services | Travel Agencies |
| URL | www |
Teletext Holidays is a British travel company that specialises in the sale of short and long haul beach holidays. The company was owned by Teletext Ltd from 1992 until late 2021 when parent company Truly Travel entered into liquidation. The brand was revived in 2024.
Headquarters
[edit]Teletext Holidays is headquartered in Covent Garden, London, supported by its support back office located in Hyderabad, India [citation needed]
History
[edit]Prior to 1992, Teletext services were available via television sets on the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. In 1992, a new company called Teletext Ltd bought the TV teletext service from previous owners Oracle, which had provided the teletext services on ITV and Channel 4.
On 1st January 1993, Teletext Ltd released a new version of Teletext on TV, with holidays a major part of this revamped offering. Between 1992-2010, holidays booked on Teletext via telephone calls became a well-established and much-loved part of British culture.
Despite the digitalisation of the service in the year 2000,[further explanation needed] the emergence of the Internet meant the need for a Teletext service on TVs reduced.
In late 2009 Teletext services on ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 ended, and in October 2012 Ceefax services on BBC also ended.
Online offering
[edit]In late 2010 Teletext moved its holidays section online to a new website. Over time, Teletext began to collaborate with fewer partners and in late 2012 the company reduced the number of partners to one. A deal was struck with Truly Travel for them to become the sole provider of holidays.[citation needed]
From 2013-2020, Teletext Holidays was one of the most popular online holiday companies in the UK and Ireland, at its peak serving over 350,000 customers. It won several awards including Best Online Travel Agent at the 2018 British Travel Awards.[citation needed]
Data breach
[edit]In August 2019 it was revealed that Teletext Holidays had left 212,000 customer call recordings on an unprotected server for three years, exposing sensitive personal data.[1]
Unpaid refunds and liquidation
[edit]In February 2021 the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) opened an investigation into Teletext Holidays and its parent company Truly Travel, following hundreds of complains regarding unpaid refunds for holidays cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2][3] The CMA began related court proceedings on 18 October 2021.[4] In November 2021 Truly Travel went into liquidation.[5] On 28 February 2022 the High Court of Justice found that Truly Travel broke the law regarding the unpaid refunds.[6]
The liquidation left Teletext Holidays with no holiday provider and its owners Teletext Ltd sought new buyers. A deal was not struck and in late 2023 Teletext Ltd itself went into liquidation.[citation needed]
New owners
[edit]In 2024 the Teletext Holidays brand was revived by Teletext Travel Ltd., which is unaffiliated with Teletext Ltd or Truly Travel.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ Scammell, Robert (30 August 2019). "Exclusive: Teletext Holidays data breach exposes 212,000 customer call recordings". Verdict. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
- ^ "Teletext faces court action unless it pays over £7m in refunds". gov.uk. Competition and Markets Authority. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
- ^ Brignall, Miles (4 February 2021). "Teletext Holidays faces questions over failure to offer Covid refunds". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
- ^ "CMA launches court action against Teletext Holidays". gov.uk. Competition and Markets Authority. 18 October 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
- ^ Dennis, Juliet (3 November 2021). "Liquidators appointed by Teletext Holidays supplier Truly Travel". Travolution. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
- ^ "Court finds that Teletext Holidays broke consumer law". gov.uk. Competition and Markets Authority. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
- ^ "About Teletext Holidays | Discover our 50-Year Journey". Teletext Holidays. Retrieved 8 November 2024.