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Holiday operators 'economical with the truth'

10/01/2006

Beware of the descriptions in your holiday brochure, that is the advice of Holiday Which?

The consumer magazine believes it has caught some of the UK's biggest travel operators being economical with the truth about holiday accommodation and destinations.

Thomson, Airtours and Thomas Cook are the big names castigated for giving misleading advice about holiday destinations.

Holiday Which? dispatched a team of researchers to Spain and Bulgaria to compare the brochure or website descriptions with the reality on the ground.

One of the main gripes were inaccurate locations, with the Spanish resorts of Malgrat de Mar, Santa usanna, Pineda de Mar and Calella de la Costa often described as being situated on the Costa Brava. In fact, the resorts lie in the industrial and much less desirable location of the Costa Maresme further south.

In addition, operators used crafty images and clever wording to mask proximity to busy road junctions and train lines and many hotels in Bulgaria were in fact unfinished, with artists' impressions shown in brochures.

Lorna Cowan, editor, Holiday Which? said that holidaymakers needed to plan their trips carefully, and look beyond their operators for information.

"Major operators don’t tell blatant whoppers, but they can be pretty economical with the truth," Ms Cowan said.

"Descriptions of resorts, facilities and locations were sometimes inaccurate and misleading, particularly when it came to the noise and hazards associated with busy roads and railways."

But tour operator Thomas Cook has asserted that very few of the criticisms levied applies to its holidays.

In a statement the company said: "Thomas Cook's first priority is customer service, and every effort is made to ensure that brochure information is as accurate as possible.

"Of the numerous issues raised by Holiday Which?, very few of them apply to Thomas Cook."

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