Scotland fans ‘thousands out of pocket’ after Euro 2024 trip operator goes bust

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

Football Road Trips Ltd, who advertised tailored tours for fans promising “thrilling and unique football experiences” announced it had gone bust citing “spiralling costs” following the Covid-19 pandemic.

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

Some fans complied but were still left scrambling to find alternative travel plans amid uncertainty of trips going ahead due to a lack of contact from the firm.

Packages included tickets to Scotland’s group games, but fans were left to watch the action elsewhere, including in fanzones, after arranging alternative travel.

Launching an investigation through Paypal, some supporters were able to reclaim partial and in some cases full refunds for final instalments paid but outstanding debts remain.

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

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

The majority of staff at the company were released, “hindering” its ability to respond to customers efficiently, a statement said.

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

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

“Founded many years ago, our company provided incredible, unique experiences to thousands of people, as evidenced by hundreds of 5-star reviews up until early last year.

“In response to a change in majority shareholding, we rebranded as European Football Experience (EFX) last year, maintaining our commitment to delivering exceptional travel experiences.

“Despite selling numerous packages before and during Covid-19 for trips to be facilitated post-pandemic, we encountered significant price increases from our suppliers.

“Tours sold cost us more to run than the revenue received, making our business model unsustainable.

“Additionally, vehicle costs increased by over 70%, and hotel prices surged dramatically in the cities we visited for football weekends.

“Due to refund demands, our business account was temporarily suspended. In an attempt to ensure the trips went ahead, we used PayPal for the last instalment of payments.

“These have since been refunded. The financial strain forced us to release the majority of our staff, hindering our ability to respond to customers efficiently.

“Although we continued running tours at a loss for some time, it became clear that we could not sustain this model. Consequently, we have not sold any tours, other than Euros trips, for over a year.

“We have initiated refunds, either in full or partially, with the liquidation process in place to resolve any outstanding debt to customers. We assure all remaining customers that outstanding refunds will be paid.

“The Euros trips were all set to proceed until yet another last-minute price increase from our suppliers forced us to raise tour costs.

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

“This has been a challenging time for the travel industry, with many larger businesses also being forced to liquidate due to rising costs.

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

“We never intended for customers to be out of pocket, and we are committed to resolving this.

“The business is now in the hands of liquidators, who will contact all remaining customers yet to receive refunds.

“Once again, we are deeply sorry to anyone whose trip had to be cancelled. The liquidators will be in touch with affected customers in due course. Thank you for your understanding.”