Turkish tour operator Detur Global announced bankruptcy following the September 2022 announcement of an operational stop.
Detur’s Sweden page, detur.se, published a statement, saying:
“The road back for the travel industry has proved longer and more difficult than anticipated. The market for solar holidays is not recovering as previously assessed. The shadow after the pandemic hasn’t really lifted, the war in Ukraine has affected the desire to travel and there have been fewer people who wanted, or were able, to travel. This has made the customer base thinner and at the same time pushed the market prices for travel to a low level, even in high season. The operational costs with increasing and difficult to estimate costs for jet fuel have put the company in such a position that the management has been forced to state that it no longer makes sense to continue the efforts with reorganization, recapitalization or alternatively sale and unfortunately has to announce that Detur is forced to file for bankruptcy .
Regarding refunds
For those travelers who get and have had their trips cancelled, reimbursement of the amount paid, if they paid by debit or credit card, can be done by disputing the amount with the issuing bank, which is usually a shorter route with the fastest processing time.
They can also claim reimbursement from the travel guarantee via the Kammarkollegiet or by submitting their claims to the bankruptcy trustee and waiting for their process and processing time, which is usually longer. The Chamber of Commerce states today on its website that they “have a high workload and the processing time is therefore longer than normal, currently approx. 4-6 months.”
Background
Detur was taken over by new owners at the end of 2020 with the vision of ensuring a bright future for the company and its employees. Work to streamline operations and modernize the organization began immediately, and when the pandemic restrictions on travel ended, the company was able to resume operations and once again deliver affordable and quality solar vacations.
With the difficulties and challenges faced by the industry and the company, the decision was previously made to pause the trips for the rest of 2022, implement organizational changes and add new capital, alternatively bring in new owners with the required conditions, and resume operations in 2023. Unfortunately, companies behind debit and credit cards decided to withhold payments and since the payments to the majority consisted of payments via precisely that type of means of payment, the liquidity situation has become acute and the respite required for the measures planned to ensure survival has been eroded.
Being forced to make this decision has been heavy and difficult and we truly regret the inconvenience this has caused. Not only for the customers who have booked in on a long-awaited sun trip, but also all our staff who have worked so hard for Detur and who now face an uncertain future.”
