Tour operator D-Reizen goes bust as holiday bookings dry up

Photo: Odi Busman
Photo: Odi Busman

The parent of package holiday company D-Reizen has gone bust, as restrictions on foreign travel led to a halt in trips abroad and income dried up.

The slow establishment of the government’s voucher fund, to help holiday firms and airlines refund customers whose holidays were cancelled at the start of the pandemic, only made the group’s financial problems worse, the company said.

The D-rt Groep was formed in May 2014 via the merger of D-reizen, VakantieXperts and Thomas Cook, which then disappeared as a brand name. Today, the company employs 1,150 people at a string of 285 travel agents nationwide.

‘This is a black day for us,’ director Jan Henne de Dijn told broadcaster NOS. ‘We’ve held a lot of talks in an effort to find a solution. Our bankruptcy removes an important part of the Dutch travel industry chain.’

The official receiver is looking into the options of a restart.

D-Reizen was launched by Dirk van den Broek, who also founded the Dirk supermarket chain, in 1966.

The franchise operation VakantieXperts is not included in the bankruptcy.

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