European tour operator FTI Touristik, considered the third largest tour operator in Europe and "too big to fail", has filed for insolvency in the court Munich.
Some customers' expected trips are likely to be cancelled, and those already on holiday may have their trips cut short.
The group owns several travel companies, and while the FTI Touristik brand will take an immediate hit, industry observers say all of the group's companies will be caught up in bankruptcy filings, with the exception of luxury adventure operator Windrose Finest Travel.
German news site aussiedlerbote.de reports that the company is believed to have received around 600 million euros in aid from the German government during the COVID-19 pandemic, a sum that had to be repaid. According to Wilhelmshaven University tourism expert Thorsten Kirstges, FTI presented a “weak” balance sheet for 2022.
In April, FTI announced a €125 million investment from a consortium led by Certares. But this appears to have come too late, as confidence in the company has fallen, orders have already fallen short of expectations, and suppliers have demanded advance payments.
“As a result, the need for liquidity increased, which was no longer possible satisfy before the investor process closes,” the company said in a statement.
According to the Greek news site Anglophone ekathimerini.com, FTI typically sends hundreds of thousands of Germans and other visitors to Greece, mainly Crete. Rhodes, Kos and Corfu, with 7,500 FTI clients currently located in the country. The news site claims FTI owes 300 hotels in Greece around €1.8 million for bookings for 2023.
A support website has been set up for affected customers www.fti-group.com/ en/insolvency.
Some observers suggested that a white knight could come to the group's aid. And Kirstgeest believes tourism remains strong.
“Despite FTI's insolvency, people will continue to travel and the billion-dollar market will be divided among other operators,” he told aussiedlerbote.de.
Source: travelnews.co.za
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