Thai hoteliers caught in up in the collapse of German tour operator FTI Group are fighting to recover billions of baht owing to them for unpaid bookings.
The Thai Hotels Association (THA) and the Tourism Authority of
Thailand (TAT) will submit a letter to the Tourism and Sports Ministry
asking them to coordinate with the German Embassy in Thailand, and
discuss compensation options.
Total losses on unpaid bookings from FTI Group, Germany’s third
largest tour operator, are estimated to be 111 million baht (US$3.1
million). Some individual Thai hotels accumulated a loss of 3-4 million
baht.
FTI filed for insolvency in June, affecting German travellers who had
paid for their tour packages, and hotels throughout Thailand and other
parts of Asia who had extended credit to the German company and its
partners.
Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, TAT deputy governor, said 250,000 travellers
in Germany who purchased tour packages could expect reimbursement via
the German Travel Security Fund, according to a recent report from
Germany.
In Thailand, most tourists who booked through FTI had already
completed their trips, but hotels were unable to claim this expense from
the company, said THA president Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun.
The Bangkok Post has reported that one of FTI's partnered agencies in
Thailand has contacted THA and asked affected hotels to submit booking
invoices to them, in order to calculate reimbursement.
UK agent David Kevan, of Chic Locations, said while no one forces
hotels to extend credit, the reality is that if a hotel does not extend
credit to many of the larger operators they will “just walk next door
and find agreeable terms”.
Kevan said that Thai hotels were not in strong position “given the
over supply of rooms in many places”, but they could head off trouble by
regularly checking tour operators’ audited accounts which were
available in the public domain.