Another travel agency collapsed yesterday, the third in less than two weeks.
The office of Taipei-based Eagle Tours Co was empty yesterday when angry representatives from its partner travel agency went to demand an explanation for bad checks their firm had received.
"Wow, they all moved out!" one of the agency representatives said.
The Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the Travel Quality Assurance Association (TQAA) launched a joint investigation upon hearing the news.
The initial results showed that Eagle had entrusted Global Express Travel, another Taipei-based firm, with the task of organizing group tours.
Eagle was supposed to collect payment from customers and deliver the money to Global.
The checks Eagle issued to Global -- worth NT$1.1 million (US$34,375) -- have all bounced.
The investigation showed that troubles might have been sparked by a feud between two agencies.
The sum of the bad checks was supposed to cover group tour costs for 68 tourists scheduled to visit China and Vietnam during the Lunar New Year holiday.
Chang Shi-chung (
He said the bureau would examine the disputes after the Lunar New Year holiday.
Eagle Tours specialized in tours of China. It gathered tourists from several other second-tier travel service companies and transferred them to first-tier travel companies to form groups.
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