German travel giant, FTI Touristik's bankruptcy cancels 175,000 vacations

Two weeks after the German travel agency's bankruptcy was announced, the worst-case scenario has come true. All planned trips have been canceled, meaning no vacations for at least 175,000 tourists.

At the beginning of June, the third-largest travel agency in Europe, Germany's FTI Touristik, declared bankruptcy. At that time, its representatives assured that they were working to ensure that "trips that had already started could be completed." Information also emerged that only trips planned until July 5, 2024, would be canceled. Meanwhile, refunds for affected tourists were supposed to start within two weeks.

However, FTI's bankruptcy trustee, Axel Bierbach, announced the cancellation of all trips with start dates from July 6. This means the cancellation of vacations for 175,000 people.

The situation for tourists who bought trips from FTI Touristik is complicated because, as Rzeczpospolita reported, "some companies serving FTI customers at their destinations have also ceased to exist."

For now, it is unknown what the total value of the trips is, but it is undoubtedly hundreds of millions of euros. The purchased vacations include organized events and individual tourist services bought at FTI group offices, such as FTI Touristik, Big Xtra, or 5 vor Flug.

Until recently, trips organized by FTI Touristik could also be purchased through Polish intermediaries.

FTI Group was the third-largest tourism company in Europe in terms of turnover, following TUI Group and Der Touristik. The company employed 11,000 people worldwide. The last bankruptcy of a similar scale occurred in 2019 when the travel giant Thomas Cook collapsed. After the bankruptcy of this travel agency, nearly 600,000 tourists faced problems returning home.