Alltour America, a well-known ground transport operation based in Orlando and operated by Claudio Cipeda, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company, which has been popular with Brazilian visitors to Central and South Florida, is facing several lawsuits over allegedly unpaid bills.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, the largest sum involved is $500,000. This is the amount that VHS leasing seeks in a lawsuit filed against Alltour in federal court.
Also, Marriott is suing the company for $22,000; Rosen Hotels has a final judgment for $2.1 million; and UCF Hotel Venture, affiliated with Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort, is suing for $42,700.The
Cipeda, a well-known figure in Brazilian community in Florida, has been active in the tour and travel industry since at least the 1990s. Public information websites list him as a president or managing member of seven different entities, all but one—The Lord Hotel, which we could not locate on a map—having to do with transportation.
Alltours’ buses are a familiar sight at hotels and event venues throughout much of Central and South Florida (see company service map below).
The company reported $7 million in gross revenue for 2014, and $6 million in 2015, but that has been only $2.5 million in 2016, according to the bankruptcy petition. The Sentinel reported that, when it tried to contact the company, a phone number for Alltour’s Orlando office, as listed on its website, was disconnected.
