Students who paid for gap year programs with Global Vision International (GVI) are now out of pocket following the tour operator's sudden closure. The company, which offered international volunteer and internship opportunities, informed customers of its liquidation in late June, leaving many with significant financial losses and disrupted travel plans.
Linus Rowland-Bell, a 23-year-old biology and bio-technology graduate from Liverpool, paid £2,258 upfront for a six-week internship program in the Peruvian Amazon. He had been advised by GVI to pay in full for a discount. "To save up that money I worked two days a week alongside my studies," he told the BBC.
Rowland-Bell's suspicions were raised in May when he had not yet completed an online training module due in April. He was informed the platform, Canvas, was down, which he found unusual as he uses the same system at university without issue. Further concerns arose on June 28 when the GVI center in Peru informed him it could not accept new participants because GVI had not paid them for six months. The following day, GVI sent an email acknowledging the situation and offering to reschedule trips or provide a credit certificate.
However, two days later, all customers received the liquidation email. "The thought of all that money, all that time that I've saved up, that excitement completely vanishing into the ether, it was terrifying," Rowland-Bell described. He was eventually able to secure a full refund through his bank and is now making last-minute travel arrangements. The experience has left him with "a big paranoia in trusting any companies that are in charge of travel bookings."