Scotland fans ‘thousands out of pocket’ after Euro 2024 tour operator goes bankrupt

Scotland fans have been left out of pocket after a travel company selling Euro 2024 tours went into liquidation.

Football Road Trips Ltd, which advertised tailor-made tours for fans promising “exciting and unique football experiences”, has announced it has gone bankrupt following the Covid-19 pandemic, citing “spiraling costs”.

STV News understands a number of Scotland fans booked packages to Germany with the company and received minimal correspondence before being asked to pay more money due to the price increase.

Some fans complied, but were still struggling to find alternative travel plans amid uncertainty about future trips due to a lack of contact with the company.

The packages included tickets for group games in Scotland, but fans could watch elsewhere, including fan zones, after alternative travel was arranged.

Following an investigation through Paypal, some supporters have been able to recover partial and in some cases full refunds of the final installments paid, but outstanding debts remain.

Neil Fernie, who was staying with two friends, said his experience with the company was “horribly bad” after they promised a range of attractive holiday extras.

He told STV News: “It also sounded very attractive.

“Scotland v Switzerland ticket, every night in a four star hotel, picked us up from Gatwick in a minibus with beers on the bus, everything sounded amazing.

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“We got pulled in, we paid monthly payments and the whole thing cost about £1,000.

“The lack of communication from them throughout the episode made me worry.”

He added: “It was terribly bad (not knowing what was going on). It’s one of the biggest things Scotland has been a part of for years.

“When we were in Germany we got the good news that we got every penny back, so it worked out well for us, but there were probably many others who weren’t so lucky.”

Citing “last-minute price increases” from suppliers, the company said some Eurogroup tours had to be cancelled.

The firm, which last year rebranded as European Football Experience, said its merchant account had been temporarily suspended due to high demand for refunds.

Most of the company’s employees were laid off, which “hindered” its ability to respond effectively to customers, the statement said.

In a statement responding to STV News, the company said: “It is with great regret that Football Road Trips Ltd is announcing its liquidation following continued cost spirals since the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Over the past months and years, tourism has been particularly hard hit and we, like many other businesses, have found it impossible to survive.”

The company said it has provided “incredible, one-of-a-kind experiences to thousands of people” over the years.

But last year, its record of 5-star reviews changed. A spokesman said that following the change in majority stake, the firm had changed its name to European Football Experience (EFX).

Despite selling packages before and during Covid-19 for post-pandemic travel, the company said it had experienced significant price increases from suppliers.

“The tours we sold cost us more than we received, making our business model unsustainable,” the spokesperson said.

“Due to refund requests, our trading account has been temporarily suspended. In an effort to make the trips happen, we used PayPal for the final payment installment.

“The money has since been refunded. The financial burden has forced us to lay off most of our staff, which prevents us from responding effectively to customers.”

The company said it continued to operate the tours at a loss for some time before it became clear that it could not sustain the model.

A spokesman said it had not sold any tours other than euro tours for more than a year.

“We have commenced refunds, either in full or in part, with a liquidation process to resolve any outstanding debt owed to customers,” they said.

The company tried to assure the remaining customers that the refunds owed would be paid.

Explaining how plans for the UEFA European Championship fell apart, a spokesman said: “All Euro tours were set to go ahead until further price increases from our suppliers forced us to increase the cost of the tour at the last minute.

“While some customers agreed to the price increase, many did not, making our group tours unviable.

“We deeply regret the inconvenience caused to anyone who did not receive a tour. We want to make it clear that we have never sold tours that we did not intend to run, as reflected in our positive reviews until the post-Covid crisis.

“It was never our intention to leave customers out of pocket and we are committed to fixing this.”

The company said it is “now in the hands of liquidators” who will contact all remaining customers to receive refunds.