Thomas Cook is to pay out more than £2.5 million to more than 500 holidaymakers who were struck down by illness the Bahia Principe hotel in the Dominican Republic between January and August 2007.
The holidaymakers, who travelled with Thomas Cook or its subsidiary My Travel, fell ill while at the hotel in San Juan with a range of illnesses including shigella, giardia, salmonella and E.coli. Many needed medical treatment and 29 were hospitalised.
Head of solicitors Irwin Mitchell Clive Garner, who represented the 500 holidaymakers, said: “This was an astonishing outbreak at a hotel that should have offered its guests a dream holiday in the Caribbean. It was a comedy of errors from start to finish, but one which wasn’t funny for anyone caught up in it.”
A spokesperson for Thomas Cook said: “We take all reports of illness very seriously and we were very concerned by the outbreak of sickness that took place at the Bahia Principe in 2007.
“We are pleased that the majority of legal cases have now been settled. We want to be able to reassure all our customers that we work with our hotel partners to continually monitor the hygiene standards in their properties.”