It has 20 million customers and has to return 600 thousand tourists .. Bankruptcy of the oldest tourism company in the world and the reason Brexit

LONDON (Reuters) - British travel and tourism group Thomas Cook on Monday declared bankruptcy after failing at the weekend to raise funds to maintain the group and said it would enter an "immediate liquidation".

The group, the world's oldest travel company, said in a statement that "despite considerable efforts, the discussions did not result in an agreement" between shareholders and potential new financiers.

"Therefore, the Board of Directors has concluded that it has no choice but to take steps to enter into a mandatory liquidation with immediate effect."

Thomas Cook will have to organize immediately the return of 600,000 tourists worldwide, including 150,000 British tourists, the largest such operation since World War II. The bankruptcy of Thomas Cook is a severe blow to the European tourism sector.

"All Thomas Cook bookings, including flights and vacations, have now been canceled," the UK's civil aviation authorities tweeted on their Twitter page.

"If you are scheduled to depart from an airport in the UK with Thomas Cook Airlines, please do not travel to an airport in the UK as your flight will not start and you will not be able to travel," the Civil Aviation Authority said in a travel warning issued on Monday.

Plans to return tourists
The British government said earlier it had drawn up plans to return tourists who might be stranded if Thomas Cook leaves the market. Governments and insurance companies will have to intervene to return the company's customers to their countries.

In Germany, where there are 300,000 on the company's flights, it will be the job of insurance companies to help them return.

German airline Condor, part of the Thomas Cook Group, said it had applied for a loan from the German government. The Government is considering this request.

The group has tried to raise £ 200m in addition to injecting £ 900m of new capital previously announced to avoid its collapse, after the leading travel company faced difficulties due to competition from travel websites and travelers' worries about the Brexit file.

When the group's financial statements were published in April, the group's president, Peter Funkhauser, blamed Brexit, which caused the company to flood its budget and caused huge losses.

Thomas Cook employs 22,000 people worldwide and has more than 20 million customers in 16 countries.

Thomas Cook, which operates hotels, resorts, airlines and cruise ships, has accumulated debts of 1.7 billion pounds ($ 2.12 billion).