Holidaymakers based in the Netherlands "will not lose anything" from the collapse of Thomas Cook

Travelers booking with Thomas Cook in the Netherlands will not have to return home sooner. Photo: Depositphotos

In the Netherlands, more than 10,000 people who booked holidays via Thomas Cook and his Dutch subsidiary Neckermann Reizen were told that they would be compensated after the closure of the British company on Sunday.

The Stichting Garantiefonds Reisgelden (SGR), which covers the costs of travel companies facing financial difficulties, will reimburse travelers whose tickets have been canceled, but stated that its first priority was to help holidaymakers currently at the resorts.

A spokesperson for Thomas Cook Nederland told AD that "arrangements would be made" to keep the holidays undisturbed.

The Dutch subsidiary has not yet gone bankrupt after the closing of its British parent company Sunday night, resulting in the cancellation of 600,000 bookings and leaving travelers from around the world dependent on the British government to take them home.

The SGR guarantee applies to package tours booked in the Netherlands, but persons who booked flights only through a travel agent will not be reimbursed.

About 200 people work in the Dutch branches of Thomas Cook, about 22,000 worldwide. The travel giant was founded 178 years ago by British businessman Thomas Cook, who was escorting a group of temperance activists by train from Leicester to Loughborough, 17 km away, for a rate of one shilling each.

The collapse of the company is another complex operation for the SGR, which still faces the demise of Travelbird last year. About 50,000 travelers filed claims after the closure of the Amsterdam-based tour operator, which employed 300 people a year ago.