Erkan Yağcı, President of the Turkish Hoteliers Federation (TÜROFED), evaluated the hot topic of FTI's bankruptcy with Turizm Güncel News Manager Savaş Daş. Yağcı emphasized that it is not difficult to fill the capacity left by FTI, calling on other operators and highlighting the importance of the winter season.
Over the past five years, Germany's second and third largest tour operators (Thomas Cook and FTI) have withdrawn from the market, which is a significant development for Türkiye in the German market. Yağcı stated, "After the pandemic, just when we thought we could breathe easy this year, the bankruptcy we experienced was not a pleasant situation for us."
"Currently, we have 5 main priorities"
Stating that the situation regarding the receivables of hoteliers from FTI is still unclear, the TÜROFED President outlined five main priorities for Turkish tourism professionals:
*Ensuring the Safe Return of FTI Guests: "Firstly, it is essential to ensure that the FTI guests currently vacationing at our hotels complete their holidays and return to their countries safely. Our guests should not be adversely affected by this process."
*Reactivating FTI Reservations: "Our second priority is to reactivate the 400,000 reservations made through FTI and determine the tour operators that will bring these tourists to Türkiye. This authority is, of course, with the appointed trustee."
*Maintaining FTI's Winter Capacity: "Our third priority is to continue FTI's existing winter capacity in Türkiye without any loss."
*Insurance Coverage for Receivables: "Our fourth priority is understanding how the receivables will be covered by insurance and how the process will proceed."
*Reviewing Relationships with Tour Operators: "Our fifth priority is to review the relationships Turkish tourism professionals have with operators. This includes how much credit will be extended to tour operators, the duration, and the method of agreement. It is important to establish a win-win situation for both parties, as we have had bad experiences in this regard."
"FTI's gap can be filled, winter season is crucial"
Yağcı noted that the approximately 2 million capacity in the German market previously handled by FTI can be easily covered by other tour operators, stating there are players in the market capable of this. He emphasized the importance of the winter period, saying, "Hotels are generally full during the summer season anyway. It is extremely important to maintain the winter capacity that FTI brought to Türkiye. This capacity needs to be filled by others. It is also crucial that they fly to the destination with both their flight capacity and their own airlines. This is also an indicator of their commitment to the destination. Sustainable partnerships should create a win-win situation. Türkiye wants to be not just a summer but also a winter destination. Hotels already provide price support to operators during the winter period. Operators need to show the same courage in winter as they do in summer and fill the gap left by FTI. We assess whether Türkiye is supported or not based on this."
"FTI Customers Will Still Prefer Türkiye"
TÜROFED President Erkan Yağcı emphasized that Türkiye is still ahead of Spain and Greece in terms of price-quality balance, highlighting that FTI customers will not choose another destination over Türkiye for this reason.
