What about the financial viability of Bunnik Tours?

Covid-19

M
Written by Marketing
Updated over a week ago

We are incredibly heartened by the fact that so many of our travellers are choosing to postpone their Bunnik Tour rather than cancel. By taking travel credits rather than refunds you avoid costs and most importantly are helping to protect jobs in the travel industry (both here and overseas).

With the extended border closures, some clients have naturally raised the question about our financial viability and that of our suppliers. We are happy to provide the following information.

Bunnik Tours turned 25 on the day our country’s borders closed. Over those 25 years we have built a solid business; first as a travel agency, and then some 15 years ago we created the small group touring brand we know and love today.

Throughout these years, our financial philosophy has not changed – we invest in the business and have built a strong foundation. This has allowed us to weather many storms including September 11, the Global Financial Crisis, Europe’s volcanic ash cloud, SARS and the Arab Spring/Egypt Revolution.

Dennis Bunnik’s qualification as a chartered management accountant (CIMA UK) has taught us the importance of having a strong inhouse finance team. Ours is comprised of Adam, Chief Finance Officer (ex BDO), and Laura, management accountant (ex Ernst & Young). This allows us to have full visibility over all aspects of the company’s financial health in real time.

We are both ATAS and IATA accredited and surpass the financial health benchmarks set by each. We are audited annually by BDO and have quarterly board meetings with our external accountants and advisors. The company has no debt and we own our business premises, meaning we have not had to have difficult conversations with the landlord about rent relief.

Since day one in 1995, all client funds have been kept in a separate bank account and only used for their proper purpose. This helps to explain why we are so disciplined in not refunding airline tickets until we have received the money back from the airline.

Bunnik Tours is the current AFTA National Travel Industry Award-winner for Best Tour Operator International and Dennis Bunnik is the chair of the Council of Australian Tour Operators (CATO). We are actively involved in helping to improve the overall professionalism of the Australian travel industry.

Whilst COVID-19 has been painful and we have had to make some heartbreaking decisions regarding staff; we will come out of this and one day grow strongly again. Finally, it is worth noting that not only are we a family business, our name is above the door. We know our family’s reputation is at stake in every action we take. We take your trust very seriously and look forward to the day soon when we can help you explore the world once again.

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