How will Türkiye prepare to contain the FTI crisis?

Europe’s third-largest tour operator FTI Group filed for insolvency in a Munich regional court on Monday, leading to concerns in FTI’s most-active destinations as Türkiye, Egypt and Greece. According to Turkish economy outlet Ekonomim.com, 25,000 tourists were caught off guard while they were on holiday in Türkiye.

Türkiye-based tourism companies highlighted that Türkiye needs to act to save the ‘winter season’ as well without solely focusing on restructuring summer holiday trips.  President of the Mediterranean Association of Tourism Hotel Managers (AKTOB), Kaan Kavaloglu said to Ekonomim that although the situation does not look as drastic as it was with Thomas Cook’s insolvency, FTI owed 25-30 million euros to the Turkish market.

He emphasized that FTI was also very crucial for the winter season along with being a very strong player for the summer holidays. He said they launched talks with other tour operator companies to fill FTI’s crucial gap for the winter holiday season.

What happened?

FTI Group filed for insolvency in a Munich regional court on Monday, the German company said in a statement, as bookings continued to fall even after a recent one-euro buyout proposal. In addition to sinking orders, multiple suppliers insisted on advance payments, which FTI is no longer was able to provide. The group has opened a hotline and website for customers, the statement added.

It will have to either cancel or only partially complete all trips from June 4, potentially affecting thousands of holidaymakers at the beginning of the travel-busy summer season. The German Foreign Ministry said that the tourism industry and travel insurance fund would take care of repatriating and supporting the tourists affected but that it would provide consular support if necessary to ensure a safe return.