Kategorie: News
It’s like Groundhog Day…
There is no day in the life of a diving tour operator that does not somehow bring some exhausting, annoying, amusing or surprising news. However, what came in a few days ago really takes the biscuit.
We've had this global crisis for almost a year now. The virus is finding its way around the globe, thousands of people are getting infected around the world, incredible scenes happen in hospitals. One country after another is closing its borders and countless stranded travelers are somehow still trying to get home. Tourism is hit hard. From one moment to the next, the entire industry collapses and disappointed vacationers demand their money back for services that have already been paid for and can now no longer be used. In the comparatively small segment of diving tour operators, many are struggling to survive on a daily basis anyway and are suddenly faced with ruin. Many suddenly do not know in the morning whether they will be bankrupt in the evening. But they also understand their customers, who do not want to be fobbed off with vouchers. Only they can help them little, because for the small organizers other rules apply, than for the big players, like TUI and CO. The big players can count not only on generous national support, but must pay their partners - thus hotels, transportation enterprises and other service providers in the vacation regions - only if the service has been supplied completely; if the journey took place. Most dive tour operators do not have this privilege. They have to pay for the services at the time of booking, long before the trip takes place. The customer's deposit is therefore passed through to the local service provider. Flights, on the other hand, if booked and confirmed, must be paid 100% immediately by any small operator.
Now Corona comes into play. Every serious diving tour operator, no matter how small, naturally builds up reserves, because the diving industry in particular is often shaken by crises. Attacks in Egypt, volcanic eruptions in Bali, wooden dive boats hitting a reef and becoming unavailable from one moment to the next are just a few examples. This all wants to be capped, because the money abroad is gone for the time being. The customer in Europe, however, has the legally secured right to get his money back promptly. This quickly adds up to a few tens of thousands of euros that have to be repaid for even the smallest diving tour group. If you now think: no problem, the hotels or ships in far away countries will immediately pay back the money to the tour operator, you are on the wrong track. Outside of Europe there is no legal basis for such risks of the organizers. The local supplier keeps the money normally; finally he wants to survive the damage. He offers vouchers to the organizer in Europe. Thanks to Corona, the dive tour operators now have a 'mountain of vouchers', with which they can probably heat their offices for years to come. Because if no one wants to travel, the vouchers are only worth the ‘heating value’ of the paper. The organizer sits on the fence and is legally required to return funds that he no longer has and will not get back soon.
Fair partners?
It is good to have fair partners like Lufthansa, a German company that is subject to European travel law. Unfortunately, this travel law only provides for immediate reimbursement for the end customer. Travel agencies or tour operators, on the other hand, are left empty-handed for the time being. They have to be patient until an airline like Lufthansa finally gets around to processing the case of a flight booked long ago by a diving tour operator. Processing times of 300 and more days are normal at the moment. The smaller the organizer, the worse the position in the queue of refund requests. Instead of proceeding in order, priority is first given to important partners with refunds.
Here is an example (from reality): a flight with Lufthansa was booked privately via the internationally active company STA Travel Holding, based in Switzerland. STA Travel was a travel provider including travel agency chain with 1500 employees worldwide and 12 branches, specializing in travel and cheap flights for young people.
The flight should have taken place in May 2020, but due to Corona the trip to Mexico could not take place. Lufthansa is taking its time with the repayment. But only until mid-August...
When asked at STA Travel, it was said on 18 August, the money Lufthansa has refunded and will be paid back to the customer in the coming days. A good 10 days later, unfortunately, there was still no money. STA Travel was unavailable - only the answering machine was available as conversational partner… The recorded announcement said: "unfortunately, we had to file for insolvency as STA Travel. As soon as we know more, you will hear from us". To date, the customer has not received his money for the ticket and this will probably remain so. When Lufthansa refunded the ticket to STA Travel it was no secret among experts that insolvency was probably only a few days away. Nevertheless, Lufthansa squandered the money by paying STA Travel... Good. Lufthansa may have had little choice, after all STA Travel was an important contractual partner. However, Lufthansa probably knows very well to delay its repayments in the case of "smaller ‘partners’".
Up to day, there are smaller diving tour operators who are still waiting for money from Lufthansa, despite a 9 billion euro rescue package from the German government. This is especially true for so-called "tickets served”. These are flights where, due to the Corona crisis, only a partial route could be used or a return flight had to be rebooked on another airline because travelers were afraid they would not be able to return home in time.
Affected guests should be told that they will probably have to continue to be patient, probably longer than until "Groundhog day" in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, because Groundhog day in 2021 is already on February 2. Lufthansa will still be in hibernation at that time. Excuse me?! Yes. You read correctly. The following email recently reached some dive tour operators and we don't want to withhold it from you at all. Specifically, the process is about several return flights of a travel group that had to buy new tickets with another airline, because Lufthansa had discontinued the corresponding route in March 2020 at short notice.
Received: Monday, January 4, 2021 11:02 a.m.
Dear Sir or Madam,
almost at the end of a very unexpected year for all of us, we would like to thank you again for your support and perfect cooperation in 2020!
After these many months full of severe restrictions in air traffic, the situation remains very serious for the Lufthansa Group. In the coming months, we must continue to pay close attention to savings and place our focus on operational necessities.
From mid-December to the end of February 2021, we have imposed winter rest for us in the Lufthansa Group.
During this time, only administrative activities will be carried out that are necessary to maintain operations, comply with safety regulations, legal requirements and the implementation of the restructuring program.
Our team will be in winter rest from December 14, 2020 to February 28, 2021.
Of course, we will be available for urgent inquiries, but we ask for your understanding that there may be delays in responding to your inquiries.
We thank you in advance for your understanding.
(The original of the e-mail is available to the editorial team)
It is not known whether the clerks at Lufthansa shorten their time with the blockbuster "Groundhog Day".