BRITONS are being forced to pay for their holidays again and are even being locked out of hotel rooms because of a major tour operator going under.
Earlier this week, tour operator FTI – one of the biggest in Europe – failed despite a recent investment of €125 million.
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While the company is based in Germany, it has had a beneficial effect on the British PASSENGERSmainly those who have holidays booked with love vacations.
That’s because UK travel agents, such as loveholidays, have been using UK-based bed bank Youtravel.com – a subsidiary of FTI – to book holidays.
FTI owns around 50 resorts in eight countries, including Labranda, Design Plus and Kairaba hotels.
And Youtravel.com has confirmed that all bookings until June 14 have been cancelled, extending from June 11.
He said the “unprecedented” situation was “challenging” but was “working diligently to keep all partners informed”.
And fuming holidaymakers have been forced to pay thousands when staying at its hotels – despite having already paid.
Many of them have complained on social networks.
One wrote: “Currently part of a group of 30 people at my hotel. We are all told we will be asked to leave unless we pay £1000 ourselves. money to stay.
“They are now blocking our main cards and not allowing us to enter our room/facilities until we ‘pay the bill’.”
Also in Morocco, a holidaymaker said: “We’re stuck inside Morocco in Labranda Targa Aquapark and are obliged to pay money to stay and are holding the customers’ belongings.”
Another person said: “We’ve just been told to pay the full amount VACATION at the reception when we have already paid the full amount of the love feast?”
Someone else complained: “Loveholidays have yet to contact anyone from our hotel regarding our hotel threatening to kick us out because Meeting Point hasn’t paid our bills. Absolutely shocking.”
One holidaymaker wrote: “I’m on holiday and have to pay £200 a night to stay in an all inclusive hotel which I’ve already paid over £1.5k for.”
A man in Turkey said he was “absolutely furious”, adding: “I got an email yesterday… I was assured it would be fine. I just need to pay another £1,700. The holiday is already fully paid for!”
A spokesperson for loveholidays told Sun Online Travel: “We are very sorry to hear of the bankruptcy of the FTI Group, the parent company of our accommodation and transfer partners Youtravel.com and Meeting Point.
They are blocking our key cards and not allowing us access to our room/facilities
“Only a small number of our customers have been affected by this news and we are working hard to ensure there is no disruption to them. holidays.
“This is a fast-moving situation so we will stay in touch with affected customers as the situation progresses and we are very sorry for the inconvenience.”
They have since added: “We are aware that a small number of hotels are asking our customers to pay again for their rooms.
“Loveholidays is absolutely committed to covering these costs and we are working with affected customers and the hotels involved to make sure this happens.”
Valentine’s Day is ATOL protected, meaning that anyone forced to pay extra for their holiday will be reimbursed.
Its website states: “As long as you book at least one flight and hotel package, every part of your holiday package is financially protected by the ATOL scheme.”
The FTI Group previously said it was working to ensure that journeys that had already started would be “completed as planned”.
But journeys that had not started since June 4 “would no longer be possible or only partially possible”.
How does the collapse of FTI affect tourists?
The Sun’s Head of Travel, Lisa Minot, has explained what this means for British holidaymakers.
“The collapse of Germany’s third largest tour operator may not at first appear to be something that would worry British holidaymakers.
“But the group’s many subsidiaries included a UK-based bed bank called youtravel.com – this company would have been used by UK travel agents such as loveholidays.com to package holidays.
“Called dynamic bundling, travel agents would pair accommodation from youtravel.com with flights.
“Any dynamic package should have ATOL protection as the travel agent is selling you flights and another element, in this case, hotels.
“So while the holidays are protected and affected travelers will be able to make a claim, the situation is currently in limbo as not all parts of the FTI company have declared bankruptcy.
“Many UK holidaymakers will also have no idea their trips are affected as travel agents such as Loveholidays would have bundled youtravel.com hotel rooms with flights.
“Also worrying is the future of MP Hotels – also part of the FTI group – if they are forced to close as part of insolvency proceedings, the holidays of many thousands more could be affected.
“For all those affected, the situation can be serious as finding alternative hotel accommodation at this busy time of year will be a challenge.
“UK holidaymakers should ensure they have very good travel insurance and check the ATOL certificate they must obtain by law when purchasing a package holiday with a tour operator or travel agent.
Across Cyprus, up to 30,000 hotel bookings may be affected, according to Filokipros Rousounides, general manager of the hoteliers’ association.
It also affects around 30 resorts across the Canary Islands, local media report, including 14 in Fuerteventura, 11 in Gran Canaria, three in Tenerife and four in Lanzarote.
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