The bankruptcy of FTI "is very bad news for Lanzarote, due to the direct damage it causes to the employment" of local workers and "in the balances of the hotels," explained in an interview with Radio Lanzarote the CEO of the Society for Foreign Promotion (Spel), Héctor Fernández.
However, the CEO of Spel points out that the damage to Lanzarote, where the group has three hotels in Puerto del Carmen and one in Playa Blanca, is less than for other islands in the Canary Islands such as Fuerteventura or Gran Canaria, which have at least a dozen establishments of the group each.
"According to the official statement from FTI, the bankruptcy does not affect, in principle, its hotels, which belong to another line of business," Fernández highlights. That line of business is called Labranda, and its hotels in Puerto del Carmen are Playa Club, Los Cocoteros, and El Dorado. The hotel in Playa Blanca is called Alyssa Suite Hotel.
The Cabildo of Lanzarote was aware of the situation of the tour operator FTI. "For several months, even at Fitur, it was beginning to be heard that its financial situation was not the best and that it was looking for new shareholders to move to a healthier situation," reveals Fernández.
Finally, "the creditors have been insurmountable," and not even "the intervention of the German state" has been enough to save the company.
Asked about the possible impact on the volume of German tourism to the island, Fernández is confident that "other German operators will absorb the demand" for trips to the Canary Islands that FTI was previously responsible for. Meanwhile, ASOLAN is carrying out an evaluation of the impact on hotels, which are charging customers upon check-in to guarantee payments.
Regarding the tour operator's clients who are currently on the island, Fernández emphasizes that the priority is to "guarantee the departure operation of these clients," and he recalled that there is a German guarantee fund for these cases, and that "FTI has stated that it will be directly involved."
However, Fernández recalls that "it is a tour operator that does not have its own airline; it bought its seats from Cóndor."
