Top Touristik Travel Agency bankrupt

by Matthias Voelker
435th Air Base Wing German legal advisor

Top Touristik officially filed for insolvency (bankruptcy) with the Kaiserslautern District Court April 2. The court appointed a preliminary insolvency administrator who will assess the financial situation and advise the court whether formal insolvency proceedings should be opened.

This process may take several weeks. If insolvency proceedings are opened, customers will then have to file any claims against Top Touristik with the insolvency administrator. At this point, customers may not file claims with the insolvency administrator.

In the interim, customers must deal directly with Top Touristik. The company is still in business and is still selling tours. Mr. Krämer, one of Top Touristik’s representatives, speaks sufficient English to communicate with U.S. customers.

If you booked a tour (not individual airline tickets or hotel rooms, but a tour “package”) through Top Touristik, the travel operator generally should honor the booking even if Top Touristik did not forward your payment to the tour operator.  
However, if you purchased individual services (such as plane tickets or a hotel reservation) and Top Touristik did not forward your payment to the airline or hotel, generally your claim is against Top Touristik and not the individual airline or hotel.

As Top Touristik is still in the business of selling tours, we recommend that customers who book tours through them make payments directly to the tour operator (and not Top Touristik). The Ramstein Law Center has been advised that Top Touristik will no longer accept cash for payment of any services.

The 435th Air Base Wing Public Affairs and Judge Advocate offices will continue to monitor this case and will provide updated guidance as they receive it.