The German Travel Security Fund (DRSF) is reorganizing its management team, opting for a proven individual. Andreas Gent will resume his position as Managing Director on March 1, 2026, and will lead the institution jointly with Stefan Korsch.
He succeeds Ali Arnaout, whose contract ends as planned on February 28 after a three-year term. According to industry reports, the shareholders and Arnaout could not agree on the terms for continued cooperation. Gent's return, who already led the fund during its critical start-up phase from 2021 to 2023, is primarily intended to ensure personnel stability and professional continuity in the insurance of package holidays.
The return comes at a time when the DRSF faces significant structural challenges. Gent has decades of experience in the insurance and financial sectors, including twenty years as a board member at Hanse-Merkur. His primary task will be to further streamline operational processes and optimize the financial burden on tour operators. The fund, initiated by the Federal Ministry of Justice following the Thomas Cook insolvency, now manages considerable capital to finance refunds and repatriation of holidaymakers in the event of a major insolvency. The shareholders, a key member of the German Travel Association (DRV), expect the new appointment to lead to more efficient regulation of security deposits.
Despite the personnel changes, the fund is facing increasing criticism from parts of the industry. The Association of Independent Travel Agencies (VUSR) criticizes in particular the rigid structures and the level of mandatory contributions, which it argues restrict the liquidity of tour operators. Association head Marija Linnhoff recently called for a review of the state's supervisory role and a significant reduction in security deposits once the target capital of €750 million is reached. While the major players welcome the continuity provided by Gent, smaller intermediaries and medium-sized companies are demanding greater involvement in the fund's decision-making processes, as they are not currently represented as shareholders.
The coming months will show how the DRSF, under its new leadership, responds to the demands for financial relief. As the travel industry is once again recording record revenues after the crisis years, the volume of assets requiring insurance is also increasing proportionally. Andreas Gent will have to find the balance between necessary risk mitigation and economic feasibility for companies. In addition to purely financial administration, the technical modernization of the reporting systems is also on the agenda, in order to enable faster processing of compensation claims in the event of an emergency.