Thousands of Britons left up to £4,000 out of pocket after travel company crashes into administration

Thousands of students and graduates have been left facing financial losses after voluntourism operator Global Vision International (GVI) abruptly ceased trading following nearly three decades in business.

The Exeter-based company entered liquidation at the beginning of July, leaving customers who had paid thousands of pounds for overseas placements unable to travel and awaiting guidance on how to recover their money.

GVI specialised in charitable travel programmes, offering placements in conservation, education and community development in destinations including Costa Rica, Fiji and South Africa.

The company built a strong reputation within the voluntourism sector by combining volunteer work with adventure travel.

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It attracted school leavers and university students looking to boost their career prospects through gap year experiences.

Many customers had booked placements costing several thousand pounds before the company unexpectedly announced it had entered liquidation.

Amy Taylor, a 21-year-old wildlife conservation and zoo biology student from Manchester, paid £4,000 for a conservation internship in South Africa.

Ms Taylor told BBC Newsbeat: "I was so happy within myself when I got accepted. I was just so excited about the future that I might have. There's essentially absolutely nothing I can do about it."

She had hoped the placement would strengthen her CV and improve her employment prospects after graduating from university.

Ms Taylor is now relying on her bank to recover the money because her travel insurance had been arranged through GVI.

She said: "If I don't get the money back, I can't go anywhere else and I don't really trust anyone at the moment to be able to go anywhere else. It didn't seem like they were struggling - everything looked professional."

Linus Rowland-Bell, a 23-year-old from Liverpool, also lost money after paying £2,258 for a placement in the Peruvian Amazon.

Mr Rowland-Bell said he had discovered GVI at a university careers fair and worked two days a week alongside his studies to save enough money for the trip.

He said: "To save up that money I worked two days a week alongside my studies."

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Mr Rowland-Bell became concerned after experiencing repeated delays and receiving conflicting information from the company in the weeks before its collapse.

On June 28, he received an email from the Peru centre informing him it could no longer accept new participants because GVI had failed to make payments for six months.

Customers were notified of the company's liquidation two days later.

Mr Rowland-Bell said: "The thought of all that money, all that time that I've saved up, that excitement completely vanishing into the ether, it was terrifying."

He was able to recover the full amount through his bank.

Chief executive Andrew Valentine apologised to customers in a statement published on the company's website following the closure.

Mr Valentine said: "For nearly three decades, GVI has been far more than just an organisation. It has been a global family with a shared vision. It is with an incredibly heavy heart that I write to share that GVI is today closing its doors."

He also expressed hope that the conservation and community projects supported by the organisation would continue despite the company's closure.

Customers have been instructed to wait for formal guidance from the appointed liquidators on how to submit claims.

RG Insolvency is overseeing the liquidation process.

GVI's collapse comes during a difficult period for the UK travel sector, with nine other travel companies ceasing trading during 2026, while four airlines have also entered administration or liquidation.

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