The Tourism Administration on Saturday fined Taiwanese travel agency We Love Tour NT$810,000 (US$25,821) after members of a tour group were left stranded in Vietnam last week.
The fine was imposed one day after the administration ordered We Love Tour, operated by Mega International Travel Service (美加國際旅行社), to suspend operations for three months, due to failures that changed or canceled the plans of 292 travelers while vacationing on Vietnam’s Phu Quoc Island between Feb. 11 and Wednesday.
Ten groups who had signed up for the tour package were not provided proper accommodation, food or transportation, the Tourism Administration said.
Photo: CNA
On top of the mistreatment, the company did not sign contracts with Vietnamese tour operators to manage the groups’ travel packages, it said.
Some or all of the members in six of the 10 groups were also not given proper travel contracts, and one of the groups was not provided with a Taiwanese tour manager, it said.
Typically, tours abroad include a Taiwanese tour manager who acts as a translator and guide.
We Love Tour’s misconduct contravened the Act for the Development of Tourism (發展觀光條例) and Regulations Governing Travel Agencies (旅行業管理規則), the administration said.
Additionally, it announced ways for the 292 travelers to Phu Quoc and 430 We Love Tour clients who already paid for tours, which have been canceled due to the company’s suspension of operations, to potentially be reimbursed.
For the clients whose tours were canceled, the administration said they could contact the banks that issued the credit cards they used to pay for the travel package to dispute the transaction.
Those who paid with cash or through a bank transfer should organize paperwork to bring to the Travel Quality Assurance Association (TQAA) for further assistance, it said.
The association is also responsible for helping the 292 travelers to Vietnam with their claims, the administration said.
Association secretary-general Wu Mei-hui (吳美惠) said that We Love Tour received about NT$13 million for tour packages it booked for clients up until April.
Alongside the additional fees the 292 clients paid for, including for food or early return tickets, We Love Tour owes about NT$20 million to its clients, a sum that We Love Tour general manager David Lin (林大鈞) told the association that he is unable to pay.
Association chairman Chang Yung-cheng (張永成) said that it would help all affected travelers file a class-action lawsuit against We Love Tour.
Lin was unable to fulfill any of the compensation promises and guarantees he made to clients, Chang said.
We Love Tour not only committed fraud against its clients and partners, it tarnished the reputation of Taiwan’s 4,000 travel agencies, and it is the association’s duty to repair the name of the nation’s tourism industry, he said.
The association revoked the membership of We Love Tour on Friday.
The Tourism Administration said it had not fined We Love Tour prior to this incident, while the association said that it had not received any previous complaint against the company.
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