SCANDINAVIAN TOUR OPERATORS FACE A WAVE OF BANKRUPTCIES

The Danish group of companies TravelCo Nordic, which balanced on the brink, has filed for bankruptcy. Experts point out that it is one of the largest operators in the Danish travel industry with a fourth market share after the well-known travel brands, such as Spies, Apollo and TUI. It served nearly 150,000 clients annually.

A month ago, the head of the group of companies Peder Hornsshoy, commenting on the journalists' questions about the state of affairs at Bravo Tours (part of the TravelCo Nordic group), noted that it had become very problematic to resume operations after the lockdown. The CEO admitted the need for a change of ownership at the subsidiary, which had stopped accepting new orders ahead of a global renovation.

Experts note that the actual ruin of the tourism business became apparent immediately after the end of the summer season.

On the eve of September, the head of TravelCo Nordic had to lay off a third of the staff at the head offices of Herning and Copenhagen. This affected both the top management and ordinary employees involved in the sale of tickets. And this despite the fact that the company continued to work almost for the whole summer, successfully selling tour packages for the fall season. Business has been decimated by the prospect of canceling winter tours.

Now analysts are wondering what will happen to other divisions of TravelCo Nordic, which also found themselves in a difficult position due to the bankruptcy of the parent company.

In particular, the fate of Matkavekka, a Finnish-based company that also filed for bankruptcy, should be decided in the coming weeks.

The company operated flights from several provincial airports, but all the flights were canceled due to the pandemic. Tourists who were going to fly from Joensuu or Kuopio will be able to get their money back through the consumer guarantee established by Finnish law in the event of the organization's insolvency.

A different situation has developed around the Swedish company Solresor, another part of the TravelCo Nordic group of companies. It is assumed that the company can be acquired by Swedish entrepreneurs, as it previously happened to the Danish Bravotours tour operator, bought by investors from Denmark. However, it will take time to find investors interested in acquiring the tourist business.

At the same time, Solresor clients, who were recommended to turn to the Danish Travel Guarantee Fund for a refund for their vouchers, declare a lot of bureaucratic restrictions to achieve the goal and the lack of strength to fight. What will be the destiny of other companies that were the subsidiaries of the TravelCo Nordic group of companies (Solia, Sun Tours, Heimsferdir, Terra Nova) has not yet been reported.