China News Service, Taipei, February 14 (Reporter Yang Chengchen) During the Lunar New Year holiday, tourists from Taiwan traveling to Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam had their bags "lost." According to reports, the reason was an economic dispute between the Taiwanese travel company that solicited the tourists and the local travel agency in Vietnam that undertook the trip. On the 14th, two groups of group tourists took flights back to Taiwan.
Based on recent news from Taiwanese media such as the Central News Agency, United News Network, and China Times News, nearly 300 Taiwanese tourists went to Phu Quoc Island on the 10th to start a five-day and four-night tour. Unexpectedly, Taiwan's group tour company "Era Travel" defaulted on the Vietnamese land. Receiving large sums of money from travel agencies disrupted tourists’ journeys on Phu Quoc Island. Some tourists even had no hotel accommodation and had to pay for their own meals.
From the night of the 13th to the day of the 14th, two groups of more than 700 outbound tourists who signed contracts with "Era Travel" returned to Taiwan, including some "lost" passengers.
A tourist surnamed Lin said that during his stay in Phu Quoc Island, many itineraries were not fulfilled, and many group members were "lost", "like they were defrauded." Although the person has returned to Taiwan safely, we hope the travel agency can give a reasonable explanation.
Many Taiwanese people plan to travel abroad during the Spring Festival holiday. This incident of a well-known travel company causing tourists to have their packages "thrown away" due to arrears has caused a chain reaction on the island. First of all, "Era Travel" was exposed that the travel expenses that were supposed to be settled with Vietnamese travel agencies at the end of January have so far been paid less than one-tenth. The amount of debt owed by "Era Travel" reached NT$2.2 million.
Secondly, the company also owed employees wages. A former employee pointed out that defaulting on accounts was a common tactic of this company.
Relevant departments of the Taiwan authorities and the Tourism and Tourism Association stated that they will investigate "Era Tourism" and related tourist routes. Taiwan’s Tourism Administration stated that affected tourists can seek help from the Taiwan Travel Industry Quality Assurance Association starting from the 15th of this month. (over)