Another tour firm in Germany has filed for bankruptcy, but the impact should be less than the recent FTI insolvency, according to the Thai Hotels Association (THA).
The THA recently acknowledged an alert from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) that Itravel, a luxury tour company based in Cologne, officially filed for bankruptcy this month.
The THA's Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun said hotels in southern Thailand are expected to be affected as the region hosts many luxury resorts, which is Itravel's target segment.
He said THA is in the process of gathering information from members who have been affected by Itravel's insolvency.
The association asked the TAT and Foreign Ministry to help hotel operators follow legal updates on the bankruptcy of German tour operator FTI, which caused hotels nationwide to lose an estimated 111 million baht.
TAT said the agency issued an alert regarding this news to the industry following reports that hotel operators that had business arrangements with Itravel were having problems with financial transactions.
He said Itravel is an online travel agent specialising in the niche luxury segment, which means the losses might be smaller than with FTI.
The Tourism and Sports Ministry said it will look for ways to help hotels, particularly as this year's tourism revenue target of 3.5 trillion baht remains a huge challenge.
