Nicola Bartholomew, 46, booked her break through travel agent Loveholidays and checked into Labranda Targa Club Aqua Parc near Marrakech, Morocco only for disaster to strike
A Brit on holiday says she was told to pay again for her hotel room or risk getting locked out – as FTI Group’s insolvency sent shockwaves through tourist hotspots.
Nicola Bartholomew, 46, booked her break through travel agent Loveholidays and checked into Labranda Targa Club Aqua Parc near Marrakech, Morocco, on June 2. But less than 24 hours after she had arrived news filtered in that the collapse of tour operator FTI Group could have a knock-on impact on her holiday.
The FTI Group is the parent company of of Youtravel and Meeting Point – two of Loveholidays suppliers. Nicola, who is from Guildford, Surrey, said letters had been put under their door instructing the guests to go to reception – which soon became a scene of mayhem. Nicola said the hotel had asked her to put down an extra £300 to keep her hotel room until her departure.
She said: “It was absolutely diabolical. They wanted Loveholidays to confirm they would get the money.” FTI Group, the third largest tour operator in Europe and the parent company to Youtravel and Meeting Point, has confirmed it was filing for insolvency.
Nicola, who is a widow, mum of four and grandma of nine, has fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis and was travelling with her carer and her carer’s five-year-old son. Nicola said there were “around 100 of us” hanging around reception with no food and drink who were told to pay again or risk being locked out.
She said there was no Loveholidays representative on hand to help and the single media relations representative for the hotel was overrun. Nicola arrived home on Sunday, June 9. Annie Cox, 24, also had a torrid experience since checking into the same hotel with a friend on Tuesday after booking through Loveholidays.
“They let us check in and then they kicked us out our room, cut our wristbands off and left us to rot in reception for seven hours”, she said. Annie, who is a project management graduate from Plymouth, said the pair had been forced to cough up a further £900 to stay on in their room.
Though Loveholidays had informed her that she would be entitled to a refund, Annie was not so optimistic. “There is no chance that money is getting back to me”, she said. A Loveholidays spokesperson said: “Last week the FTI Group, the parent company of one of our many suppliers, Youtravel, filed for insolvency.
”Only a very small portion of our customers are affected by this and we are working hard to minimise disruption to their holidays. We are aware that a small number of hotels have asked affected customers who are already on holiday to pay for their rooms again. We are absolutely committed to covering these costs and are working with affected customers, and the hotels involved, to make sure this happens.
“We are very sorry to hear of our customers’ experience at this particular hotel and can confirm the hotel has accepted payment directly from Loveholidays.” In a statement on Monday, FTI Group said: “After a lengthy and complex investor process, the entry of a consortium of investors was announced in April 2024.
“Since then, however, booking figures have fallen well short of expectations despite the positive news. In addition, numerous suppliers have insisted on advance payment. As a result, there was an increased need for liquidity, which could no longer be bridged until the closing of the investor process.
“The filing for insolvency has therefore become necessary for legal reasons. We are currently working hard to ensure that trips that have already started can be completed as planned. Trips that have not yet begun will probably no longer be possible or only partially possible from Tuesday, 4 June 2024.”
FTI Group has encouraged travellers to visit its website and their support hotline at +49 (0) 89 / 710 45 14 98.
