The manager of FTI Touristik's tourist interests in Gran Canaria, Meeting Point (MPH), said on Monday that it was operating as normal. Following the bankruptcy of the tour operator FTI Touristik, the focus is now on dismantling and selling what was once Germany's third-largest provider. The bankruptcy administrator Axel Bierbach announced on Monday that there are good sales prospects for the foreign hotel companies with around 7.500 employees.
The bankruptcy administrator has already found new owners for the luxury tour operator Windrose, the Erfurt-based service centre company erf24, the 5vorFlug brand and shares in TVG Touristik Vertriebsgesellschaft. The hotel companies in the tourist countries own 54 properties, of which only eight belong to FTI, the others are leased. Since they were only 20 percent dependent on FTI guests, they were able to continue operating quickly.
In a statement to Maspalomas24H, Meeting Point Hotelmanagement Canaries SLU said that "both the hotels and the operations centre continue with their business activity without any change" and that what happens in Germany stays in Germany: "it does not affect the companies in the Spanish perimeter". The more than 15 establishments managed by Meeting Point Hotels Spain "maintain their normal operation, remaining open at all times, accepting reservations and focusing on their ordinary activity with collaborating companies, workers and guests". MPH said that the occupancy rates obtained in some of its establishments with respect to last year during the summer period have improved "thanks to the collaboration of companies related to daily operations, its tourism partners".
Last Sunday, a district court in Munich opened formal insolvency proceedings for the group, which had to give up at the beginning of June due to excessive debt. Of the approximately 1.400 employees in Germany, around half are currently laid off; of these, around 130 continue to run the company together with Bierbach. The other half kept their jobs by selling FTI companies or finding employment with other travel providers.
According to Bierbach, there was no prospect of retaining parts of the travel giant. "There was not enough liquidity available, nor could safety certificates be issued for travellers. This meant that the package holiday business model could no longer be saved." FTI would have needed a sum in the double-digit millions to survive. "Neither old nor new shareholders were willing to close the liquidity gap," Bierbach said. The federal government had stated that it did not want to intervene again after the high level of government aid during the coronavirus crisis.
FTI Touristik and its subsidiary BigXtra currently have debts of more than €1.000 billion to a total of around 350.000 creditors. The majority are package travellers, between 2.000 and 3.000 hotels and travel agencies. For package holidays, customers receive reimbursements from the German Travel Insurance Fund (DRSF), which was set up after the last major insolvency in the sector, that of Thomas Cook, at the end of 2021. You should only record claims in the insolvency table if they have not been fully offset by the DRSF.
