Bankrupt German travel agency FTI has cancelled tours departing from today to Monday
The bankrupt German travel agency (CK) FTI Touristik has cancelled tours departing from today to Monday. It is not clear at the moment how the situation will develop further. Kateřina Chaloupková, executive director of the Association of Czech Travel Agencies, said today. According to her, it is possible that the tours will be taken over by another entity. Chaloupková did not specify the exact number of clients who were supposed to go on holiday with FTI Touristik between today and Monday. The Invia travel agency, which sells tours from travel agencies, is dealing with individual cases, said spokeswoman Jiřina Ekrt Jirušková.
Some 200 to 300 Czech tourists are abroad with German CK FTI Touristik, Chaloupková said on Tuesday. They are spending their holidays mostly in Turkey, with others in European resorts. According to Jirušková, the Invia agency has not yet recorded any cases where clients who are now abroad with the bankrupt German FTI travel agency have had to end their holidays early. In total, about 100 of them are currently on holiday, Jirušková said on Tuesday.
"In destinations such as the Balearic Islands, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, we now have 40 clients, we are in contact with all of them and if they have any questions or problems, we solve them with the organiser or via a help line," said Jiří Pikrt, managing director of the NaCesty.cz travel agency. According to him, 120 families have booked tours or accommodation with the organisers from the FTI group.
Chaloupková said that people who bought a trip directly from FTI Touristik or through a Czech travel agency should primarily contact the German travel fund DRSF. This is where German travel agencies are insured against bankruptcy. The Czech travel agency can provide clients with translation assistance or further direction, said Chaloupková. The information that FTI CK provides to people and sellers is sketchy, she said.
Clients who have not yet travelled can claim a refund for the entire trip from the DRSF. If people have to end their holiday early, they will receive the difference between the number of days used and unused, according to Chaloupková.
The FTI Group, to which FTI Touristik belongs, received €595 million (CZK 14.7 billion) in aid from the state stabilisation fund WSF during the covid-19 pandemic. However, according to the data provided, bookings have recently fallen well short of expectations and many suppliers have insisted on payment in advance. This increased the need for liquidity and the company was no longer able to disburse the money until the new investment was resolved. The government refused to provide further assistance to the company.
FTI Group has around 11,000 employees and is Europe's third largest travel company behind TUI and DER Touristik. In the 2022/2023 fiscal year, the firm's turnover grew by ten percent to €4.1 billion. The main shareholder was most recently the Egyptian investment family Sawiris, DPA reported.
Source: CTK
