A major travel company has announced that all bookings will be cancelled up to and including 26 July. It said it had taken the ‘difficult’ decision to extend cancellations beyond 5 July while talks to secure its future continue.
Youtravel is owned by German company FTI Group, whose tour operator brand FTI Touristik filed for insolvency earlier this month. Many UK travel agents use products provided by the group so potentially thousands of travellers could have their plans thrown into disarray.
It confirmed all active bookings for arrivals up to and including 26 July would be cancelled without charge by Monday 1 July giving agents holding packages for UK travellers with accommodation booked via Youtravel just days to act. If there are issues travellers will find out over the next few days from who they booked the holiday with.
European travel giant FTI Touristik, one of the continent’s largest travel firms, filed for insolvency at the start of the month. Youtravel said the impact on its business and operations had been “significant”.
In a statement, Youtravel said: “We want to express our gratitude to all our partners for their unwavering support and patience since the announcement on the 3rd June 2024.
“The insolvency of FTI Touristik GmbH has had a significant impact on Youtravel.com. Over the past three weeks, our management has been actively engaging with the appointed administrator of the FTI group and undergoing the M&A [mergers and acquisition] process to secure our future.
“Whilst we are hopeful for a positive conclusion to these talks soon, we have made the difficult decision to cancel all bookings until and including the 26th July 2024.
“We understand the inconvenience this may cause and sincerely apologize for any disruption. Any active bookings in the Youtravel system for arrivals up to and including 26 July will be automatically cancelled without any charges by Monday 1 July.”
Bookings from 27 July remain active and will be subject to the usual cancellation charges.
“Our teams are fully operational, and our dedicated task force is here to provide support to our partners during this challenging period,” added Youtravel. It added: “Our teams are fully operational, and our dedicated taskforce is here to provide support to our partners during this challenging period. Alternatively, you can contact your account manager for any queries or concerns.
“We will continue to keep you updated as soon as we have any further news regarding the future of Youtravel.com. We want to express our gratitude to all our partners for their unwavering support and patience since the [FTI] announcement on the 3 June.”