CONSUMER magazine Holiday Which? says operators need to be more ‘up front’ in brochures after a probe revealed a host of misleading descriptions.
Undercover inspectors sent to Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast and Costa Maresme in Catalonia in October half-term 2005 found the true picture is often very different to the impression given to customers.
Examples include Airtours Holidays stating the Hotel Marina Grand Beach in Golden Sands boasts ‘a beautiful beachfront position’ when it actually sits at a road junction.
Head of research Anne Harvey said: “We just want them to be more up front about it. Agents will have people coming back telling them about complaints – they can build up better information.”
The report concluded: “The death of the package holiday has been long foretold. Inaccurate brochures are a nail in the coffin.”
A MyTravel spokesman said: “We welcome constructive criticism on information we provide. Without any consultation with tour operators this is not constructive at all.”
Thomson Holidays was criticised for its romantic description of a railway line close to a beach. It said ‘children will love watching the trains puff by’, even though the line is a high-speed rail connection.
A Thomson spokesman said: “The properties mentioned have excellent feedback for location. We tell customers what they need to know – if there are areas we’ve missed we’ll get feedback.”
Holiday Which? also blasted Balkan Holidays’ inaccurate description of the Hotel Lulin and Pirin which was surrounding by building work. Balkan Holidays said it had written to clients who had booked to advise of the changes.