NEW YORK — Ensemble Travel Group has announced that it will discontinue its operations in Australia and New Zealand and close its regional office in Sydney, which has three employees.

The move comes on the heels of a round of layoffs in North America last week.

“Over the past five years, Ensemble has pursued several viable business opportunities including expansion in Australia and New Zealand,” states David Harris, CEO of Ensemble Travel Group. “But, as our goal is always to operate a profitable model for our members, we regretfully have had to make the difficult business decision to discontinue our operations in this market. This was due in large part to not being able to develop and maintain the kind of critical mass needed to sustain this effort.”

The consortia had initially expanded into the region in 2015.

“While we are disappointed that this expansion effort didn’t grow in the manner which we had hoped, we want to convey our sincere appreciation to the team who worked passionately to build the business halfway around the world, and of course to the 44 member agencies who had engaged with our Ensemble programs,” Harris adds.

Ensemble says it will communicate with local members in the coming weeks to assist in the transition that will be completed by the end of April.