Dozens of Hungarian tourists were left without the summer vacations they had already paid for after charter flights to Bulgaria were canceled at the last minute and hotel reservations were reportedly withdrawn, writes OFFNews.
On August 1, just one day before his family was due to leave for a two-week holiday, Nikolay, a Bulgarian who has lived in Hungary for decades, received a text message from tour operator Robinson Tours informing him that the trip had been canceled.
“Please do not go to the airport, unfortunately we are forced to cancel your trip,” the message read.
The canceled flight was scheduled to travel from Budapest to Burgas, while another charter flight from Debrecen to Burgas planned for the following Monday was also called off.
Nikolay said he had booked the vacation in January. The package included round-trip airfare, a 120-euro fuel surcharge, transfers, and 14 nights at an all-inclusive hotel in Sunny Beach. The total cost for three people came to 3,540 euros.
“After the cancellation of the trip, Robinson Tours did not answer calls to any of its company phone numbers,” Nikolay told OFFNews.bg. “On August 2, we received an email stating that the tour operator was refusing to provide the transportation and services under the contract and that it would not answer phone calls. We have received no further information.”
Many other Hungarian travelers reportedly found themselves in the same situation. In addition to canceled charter flights, hotel reservations in Bulgaria were also withdrawn. Some customers who contacted hotels directly said they were informed that their bookings had been canceled.
Hungarian tourists who had already completed their vacations and were expecting to fly home from Burgas were instead transported back to Budapest and Debrecen by bus.
The lengthy return journey created additional concerns for some passengers because the route passed through Serbia. As European Union citizens, Hungarians traveling to Bulgaria normally use national ID cards rather than passports, since they had expected to return on direct charter flights rather than by road.
Frustrated customers created a Facebook community called “Group for Robinson Tours Passengers,” which attracted more than 660 members within a few days. Participants have been sharing information about canceled flights, missing hotel reservations, and their efforts to obtain answers from the tour operator.
The case has also attracted widespread media attention in Hungary, with several national outlets publishing reports on the canceled vacations.
Robinson Tours EOOD is registered in Sofia and is owned and managed by Hungarian citizen Aron Jakoc. The company markets tour packages to Hungarian customers, including holidays on Bulgaria‘s Black Sea coast.
Hungarian news outlet Index.hu noted that Robinson Tours previously encountered financial difficulties in 2020, when, as a Hungary-registered tour operator, it announced it was ending operations because of travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, affected travelers were expected to receive compensation through the company’s insurance coverage.
According to the report, Robinson Tours later returned to the Hungarian travel market and began offering holiday packages for 2026, including charter vacations to Bulgaria.