Travel firm to compensate for aborted Egypt tour

By Yi Whan-woo

A travel agency was ordered Thursday to pay compensation of 2 million won each to 21 people booked on a tour of Egypt that was aborted due to the Arab Spring revolutions last year.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled Thursday that the group is eligible for full compensation from the travel agency that pressed ahead with the tour without considering the volatile political situation in the Middle Eastern country at that time.

“The role of a travel agency in planning an international tour includes considering situations in the countries that their customers plan to visit,” a judge said. “Death reports were commonly seen on the news regarding the popular uprising in Egypt, and it’s evident that the agency was neglected its responsibility.”

The 21 customers paid 2 million each for the tour packages in early January last year. They claimed the firm guaranteed their safety when they raised concerns about the Arab revolutions that swept through a number of Middle Eastern countries including Egypt.

The travelers left for Egypt on Jan. 29, 2011, and were refused entry to the country at Luxor International Airport, the country’s fourth largest airport and an entry point for the Nile Valley.

“An immigration officer denied our entry because of unstable social circumstances in the region,” a customer said.

The travel agency previously introduced Luxor as a safe place to travel in contrast to Cairo, according to the would-be tourists.

They headed back to Dubai, the international transit point for their seven-day tour. They had to settle with a tour of Dubai city until they could return to Korea.

“The firm claims it had a detailed plan B for its customers to replace the Egypt tour, but the claim lacks credibility based on accounts of the witnesses,” the judge said.