Summer holidays: UK holidaymakers face more holiday cancellations as Loveholidays partner cancels all July bookings after going bust
More holidays have been cancelled after one of Europe's biggest tour operators went into administration.
Earlier this month, tour operator FTI went bust which affected Youtravel, a UK-based bed bank used by holiday package companies such as Loveholiday. Youtravel.com initially confirmed that all bookings up to June 11 were cancelled. This was later extended to July 5, and they have now confirmed that holidays up until July 26 would be cancelled.
Youtravel said: "Over the past three weeks, our management has been actively engaging with the appointed administrator of the FTI group and undergoing the M&A process to secure our future. While 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 26 July 2024. We understand the inconvenience this may cause and sincerely apologise for any disruption."
It is thought as many as 30,000 hotel bookings have been affected across resorts in Cyprus, with 30 resorts in Spain affected too. Holidays across Malta, Morocco and Turkey also face cancellations.
The main tour operator affected in the UK by the cancellations is Loveholidays. Annie Cox, 24, was forced to pay another £900 when she arrived on holiday at Labranda Targa Club Aqua Parc in Morocco. She said: "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."
A Loveholidays spokesperson previously told Sun Online Travel that a "small portion" of holidaymakers were affected and they would be getting in touch to offer alternative accommodation. They said: "We are very sorry to hear of the insolvency of the FTI Group, the parent company of our accommodation and transfer partners youtravel.com and Meeting Point.
"Only a small portion of our customers are affected by this news and we’re working hard to ensure there is no disruption to their holidays. This is a fast-moving situation, so we will remain in touch with affected customers as the situation progresses and are very sorry for the inconvenience."
They added: "We are aware that a small number of hotels are asking our customers to pay for their rooms again. Loveholidays is absolutely committed to covering these costs and we are working with affected customers, and the hotels involved, to make sure this happens." Loveholidays are ATOL-protected which means that anyone being forced to pay extra for their holidays will be refunded.