Bankrupt tour firm hurting local hotels
MUĞLA - Anatolia News Agency
A group of British holidaymakers read information notes from Holidays 4 UK, the bankrupt tour operator that focuses on Turkey, at their hotel in Muğla. AFP photo
The bankruptcy of Britain-based Holidays 4 UK is victimizing Turkish hoteliers, according to the Turkish Culture & Tourism Ministry’s office in the western province of Muğla.
Tourists who have been spending their vacation in Turkey’s Aegean province of Muğla and its towns under tours operated by the British company are still enjoying their holiday in Turkey, thanks to efforts by the office and the South Aegean Touristic Hoteliers Association, or GETOB.
Those who have completed their vacation are being sent to their countries from Dalaman and Bodrum’s Milas airports.
“Tourists are not the victims of this bankruptcy,” Muğla Culture & Tourism Director Kamil Özer told the Anatolia news agency.
GETOB Chairman İlhan Açıkgöz said the company had brought 43,000 tourists to Turkey so far, and it had booked for 40,000 people at Turkish hotels.
“Air Transportation Organizers’ Licensing [ATOL] will meet some of the losses due to the company’s bankruptcy, however ATOL will not pay outdated receivables,” he said.
Açıkgöz also said Turkish hoteliers would have a financial loss between 50 million and 100 million British pounds due to the bankruptcy.
“The only victims of this bankruptcy are Turkish hoteliers,” he said.
Some 6,000 customers of the British tour operator are spending their vacation in Mugla’s Marmaris town, an international tourism destination.
After Brighton-based Holidays 4 UK company’s bankruptcy, travel company Abta announced that the British tour operator actually had 12,800 customers in Turkey.
Speaking to the BBC, British Civil Aviation Authority’s executive David Clover said there was nothing to be concerned about, and every one would come back as planned.
Clover said customers who had paid the company but had not yet gone on their holiday would be refunded.
Holidays 4 UK had 18 employees and annual turnover around 35 million British pounds. It was carrying 100,000 passengers a year.
