Hungary tour operator goes bust partly due to Egypt troubles

BUDAPEST - Leading Hungarian tour operator Best Reisen Ltd, hit by big losses on holidays to Egypt and Tunisia, said on Friday it had gone bankrupt, leaving hundreds of passengers in Red Sea resorts in Egypt.

The company said it had financial deposits of 1.3 billion forints ($5.75 million) which would cover the costs of bringing passengers home and compensating clients with booked trips.

"Best Reisen specialised in North African countries and the Arab spring did them no good," said Judit Molnar, vice chair of the association of Hungarian tour operators.

According to agent's statement on Facebook, "We booked especially big losses on travels to Egypt and Tunisia, as these two north African destinations which accounted for most of our turnover, have been plagued by political crisis since January 2011".

It said it could no longer ensure the "financial conditions for continued operations".

The firm did not say how many passengers they had in Egypt and other destinations such as Turkey, and the managing director could not be reached for comment.

Molnar told Reuters that Best Reisen currently had 350 passengers in the Red Sea resorts in Egypt.

Hungary's foreign ministry advises against travel to Egypt except for the Red Sea resorts, which are rated as areas where increased caution is needed.

Spokesman Gabor Kaleta told Reuters they were monitoring the situation closely but for the time being did not plan to change this guidance.

Earlier in the day TUI Germany said it was cancelling all holidays to Egypt until September 15 after the German foreign ministry advised against travel to Red Sea resorts