TUI will provide support as customers request it so that the tourism industry in Germany does not stop in the south of Gran Canaria. Tour operator bankruptcies are controlled. Since November 1, 2021, a travel insurance fund protects travelers in the event of the insolvency of their tour operator. Therefore, the EU directive on package travel obliges the tour operator to ensure advance payments from customers and return transportation of travelers in the event of insolvency.
The bankrupt company generated around €4.100 billion in the 2022-23 financial year and had a market share of around 15 percent as a tour operator in Germany. The tour operator FTI offered its clients vacations in about 120 countries. After the bankruptcy of the tour operator FTI, many customers are very uneasy. They wonder if they can still travel on vacation safely and without worries today. So how safe is it to book a vacation package these days? TUI has created a special website for the FTI crisis in the south of Gran Canaria.
TUI said on Monday that "worry-free holidays are our top priority" and that "we created a professional crisis management and security system more than 20 years ago where we support our customers with the most modern help and up to 600 dedicated helpers through of the MyTUI app.
FTI Touristik GmbH was founded in 1983 under the previous name "Frosch Touristik GmbH", had 90 subsidiaries worldwide and was the third largest tour operator in Europe. In 2000, the British travel group Airtours/My Travel acquired FTI Frosch Touristik and converted the company into an integrated travel company with the airline FTI and the group's hotels.
On June 3, 2024, the FTI Group filed a request to open insolvency proceedings. Business operations were disrupted and sales of FTI-branded vacation trips stopped. The company was the third largest travel provider in Europe. The FTI group included FTI Touristik, 5vorFlug, Drive FTI, destination management company Meeting Point International, active with more than 40 locations worldwide, and promotional items organizer BigXtra. The hotel brands Labranda Hotels & Resorts and Design Plus Hotels, Kairaba Hotels & Resorts, Lemon & Soul Hotels, Club Sei and the Meeting Point managed hotels also belong to the company. The group employed more than 11.000 people.
The Canary Islands Government will continue to pay attention to the data that becomes known during this day and the coming days in relation to the FTI request for the opening of insolvency proceedings in a court of first instance in the German city of Munich. This bankruptcy declaration will only affect the FTI Touristik tour operator brand for now, although other companies in the group will also request the opening of insolvency proceedings in the coming days. The company has announced that it is working to ensure that trips that have already begun can be completed as planned, although those that have not yet done so "will no longer be able to take place or will only be able to be completed partially."
