About 150 travelers to Vietnam’s Phu Quoc Island caught in a dispute between travel agencies returned to Taiwan yesterday, while the remaining 600 are scheduled to return today.
Mega International Travel Service (美加國際旅行社), which operates the brand We Love Tour (年代旅遊), chartered four planes on Friday and Saturday last week to transport about 750 travelers to the island for five-day tours.
The travelers were then entrusted to Vietnamese tour companies for local tours, 292 of whom were entrusted to Vietnam WInnER International Travel Co.
Photo: Rachel Lin, Taipei Times
However, WInnER on Saturday asked the tourists to pay US$720 each to continue, saying that Mega had only paid one-10th of the tour fees before the group left Taiwan.
On Monday, the Tourism Administration said that more than 100 of the tourists had paid the extra amount.
However, Mega had also not paid for chartered flights it booked with Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways, it said, raising concerns that the tourists could become stranded on the island.
Yesterday, the agency said that Mega had reached an agreement with the Vietnamese companies and airline to complete the tours and return the travelers on chartered flights as scheduled.
All 750 travelers received their flight tickets home, 150 of whom flew back at noon yesterday, Mega general manager David Lin (林大鈞) said.
The remaining 600 are to fly back today on three separate flights, including all 292 in the disputed tour, he said.
The Tourism Administration also reiterated that it was working with the Travel Quality Assurance Association (TQAA) to investigate whether Mega had contravened the Regulations Governing Travel Agencies (旅行業管理規則) and its client contracts.
The case would be handled in three ways: The tourism agency would conduct an investigation, the TQAA would assist with consumer disputes and clients may file lawsuits against Mega, it said.
Later on Monday, Mega in a statement rejected WInnER’s claims, saying that the groups in question were the first cooperation between the Taiwanese firm and WInnER.
Mega said the two companies previously came to an agreement, observed by a witness, that all payments would be cleared by Feb. 26.
WInnER went back on the agreement and asked for the complete payment after a tourist complained about a meal on arriving in Vietnam, the company said.
It also implored tourists to “refrain from being held hostage financially” by the Vietnamese company, and promised to cover all losses sustained by its clients.
WInnER later that evening accused Mega of attempting to “lead the narrative.”
Although Mega said it would settle its accounts on Feb. 26, the two sides have no contract agreeing to that date, the Vietnamese company said, adding that their contract stipulates Jan. 31 as the payment deadline.
However, after being contacted by Tourism Administration officials in Ho Chi Minh City to facilitate negotiations and ensure the safe return of the tourists, and fielding many distress calls from tourists with nowhere to stay, the company decided to help despite the delayed payment, WInnER added.
Bamboo Airways yesterday said it also decided to help the travelers return out of humanitarian considerations, even though Mega had not paid for the return flights.
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