The Tourism Ministry has launched a 500,000 insolvency fund to safeguard Maltese tourists should a travel agent go bust.
Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said the measure was a reaction to the case of the Fantasy Tours travel agency, which closed down overnight in August 2013, cancelling nearly €400,000 worth of paid-up holidays and leaving customers stranded in foreign airports. The holidaymakers were informed of the shutdown through an SMS.
“Although it is rare for a Maltese travel agency to go bankrupt, the Fantasy Tours case exposed the need for a law to safeguard tourists from such an eventuality,” he said.
The fund will be will be financed by around 70 travel agencies,
