Tour operator files for bankruptcy, travelers stranded across Europe | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

With worldwide economic uncertainty also seeping into traveler spending, a number of tour operators in different countries have filed for bankruptcy over the last year.

Last June, British travel company Great Little Escapes was stripped of the license required to operate after reporting sustained losses in 2024 and 2023 while fellow British tour operator Jetline Holidays had similarly closed down operations a few weeks earlier.

The biggest travel agency bankruptcy in recent memory occurred in June 2024 when German group tour giant FTI Touristik GmbH suddenly canceled over 175,000 tours” over an “increased need for liquidity [that] could no longer be bridged.” Several travel agencies that booked through the operator and had to refund their travelers when FTI shut down are still in the process of trying to get compensation.

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‘We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause’: MixxTravel

The latest company to suddenly stop all operations is the Swedish tour provider MixxTravel. Founded in 2008 out of Malmö, the travel agency was declared bankrupt by a judge on July 31 and had to immediately cancel both all future bookings and in some cases tours that were halfway through.

Operating under the wider parent company MixxTravel AB, MixxTravel sold group tours to Greece and Türkiye as well as several North African countries to travelers from Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. Owner Ercan Secilmis told Swedish press that between 1,200 to 1,300 travelers were abroad at the time the company had to cease operations and the company was using 28.4 million Swedish kronor ($2.93 million USD) in travel guarantees secured by bankruptcy proceedings to bring them back home.

“This means that the company has ceased its activities with immediate effect,” MixxTravel currently states on its website in Swedish while also saying it “apologize[s] for any inconvenience this may cause to our customers, partners, and employees.”

The operator was, according to some Swedish customers who spoke to local outlets, still selling trips to Türkiye on its website as late as July 13 for trips in September and October at discounts of 2,000 kronor ($194 USD).

MixxTravel sold tours to countries like Türkiye to travelers from several Nordic nations.

Refunds may take longer than usual due to high numbers, governing body warns

Amid the bankruptcy, those who had already booked future tours have been instructed to contact consumer agencies Kammarkollegiet in Sweden and the Competition and Consumer Authority in Finland for filing claims. The company also employed 12 employees in Sweden who may now be entitled to compensation for the sudden loss of employment.

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In Sweden, Kammarkollegiet stated that the processing period for refunds may take more than a few months due to the high number of travelers affected by the shutdown. It also stated that refunds will not be granted to trips canceled for reasons unrelated to the insolvency or that were canceled or postponed before it was confirmed. Claims must also be filed within three months of the bankruptcy filing or cancelation of one’s tour.

“For questions about the Swedish bankruptcy process, see: Malmö District Court,” MixxTravel said in its final statement. “Thank you for the trust you have shown us over all these years.”