BERLIN, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Trips and holidays by Thomas Cook Germany with a departure date of Jan. 1, 2020 or later, "cannot be commenced" even if they had already been partially or fully paid for, the tour operator announced on Tuesday.
"We are so sorry that we have to deliver this message to our customers with departure in the new year," said Stefanie Berk, chairwoman of the management board of Thomas Cook Germany.
Among others, the tour operators that are affected were Thomas Cook Signature, Thomas Cook Signature Finest Selection, Neckermann Reisen and Oeger Tours. Guests with cancelled travels would be proactively informed by the organizers as soon as possible, according to the German tour operators.
A Thomas Cook Germany spokesperson confirmed to Xinhua on Tuesday that around 660,000 German holidaymakers had already booked for the period up to September 2020.
Previously, the German Thomas Cook, which had filed for insolvency in Germany after the bankruptcy of the British parent company in September, had already cancelled all trips by the end of the current year.
According to Thomas Cook Germany, the management and the temporary administrators were trying "under high pressure until the end of the month to seize every opportunity to preserve the traditional company."
For example, Bucher Reisen and Oeger Tours had concrete offers to be taken over by other companies, the German Thomas Cook announced. Nevertheless, the implementation of the booked trips "cannot be guaranteed."
Parts of Thomas Cook Germany on the other hand have already found a potential investor after German DER Touristik Group already announced plans to take over two brands of the German Thomas Cook.
