The president of Hipotels, Joan Llull, prefers not to specify the amount his company is owed by Thomas Cook, but an estimate quoted is around 20 million euros. Llull says that he is extremely annoyed with Thomas Cook and believes that the tour operator deceived all its hoteliers.
"The CEO, Peter Fankhauser, told us when he visited Majorca in June that everything was sorted out and that we could relax. This reassured us and so we continued to operate with them as if nothing had happened. The reality was rather different.
"Thomas Cook deceived all the hoteliers here and in other destinations. The hotel chains had been so good to them. Yet in the end, we have been made to look foolish by how it all ended."
Responding to suggestions that hoteliers should have been aware of what might have been coming, Llull insists that "we trusted what we were told". Nevertheless, the unpaid bills were accumulating. "We should have been firmer," he accepts.
By July, all the hotel chains should have been telling Thomas Cook that "we will not accept any more clients until outstanding payments are made". The hoteliers, he concedes, were at fault for not having been more "expeditious" in their dealings with Thomas Cook.