First Choice Urged To Stop Sending Holidaymakers To Resort Following 135 Cases Of Food Poisoning
14/10/2009
Travel claims experts at Irwin Mitchell have urged tour operator First Choice to stop sending holidaymakers to a Turkish hotel after they were prompted to take legal action against them by more than 500 British guests who were affected by a sickness outbreak.
The Holiday Village Turkey has a notorious history with hotel illness, having had reported sickness outbreaks every year for the past five years. In total, more than 1,100 holidaymakers have taken legal action against the hotel since 2005 with more than 135 incidents of salmonella food poisoning.
The 2009 outbreak affected 46 guests who, since returning home, have all tested positive for salmonella food poisoning. A further three guests also contracted campylobacter and many more guests of the resort are still awaiting their test results.
The cases from this year cover the entire summer period from May to the end of September, with sickness outbreaks throughout the whole season. The hotel, in Sarigerme, has had a series of outbreaks over the past five years going back to when the resort was known as the Pegasus Palace.
Travel claims specialists at law firm Irwin Mitchell have urged First Choice not to send holidaymakers there in 2010, having labelled the latest sickness problems “shameful”.
The travel operator has refused to stop sending guests to the resort, despite serious health concerns amongst previous guests and in light of legal questions from Irwin Mitchell and the BBC’s Watchdog.
The head of travel litigation at Irwin Mitchell, Clive Garner, said: “Enough is enough. The Holiday Village Turkey’s record is utterly shameful and this cannot be allowed to go on any longer.
“Having considered with our experts the evidence currently available, we expect that many more of our clients will soon have a diagnosis made of Salmonella or other food poisoning. This is entirely consistent with the Salmonella outbreaks in the previous four years at this hotel.
“We have seen no evidence to support First Choice's suggestion of viral illness being the cause of the epidemic at the Holiday Village and we call upon them to finally accept that they are liable and to compensate our clients for the illnesses they contracted and work with us to agree fair compensation to all those affected as soon as possible.
“We now represent more than 550 people whose hard-earned holidays were ruined this year, and that makes more than 1,100 in total in the last five years. How many more innocent children, parents and couples have to fall seriously ill at this hotel before First Choice takes action?”
Garner added: “These are not minor complaints about the odd bad meal. We’re talking about repeated outbreaks of illnesses and about hundreds of children and adults who will be left with long-term illnesses and health problems due to repeated failures at this hotel for which the hotel's management and First Choice are both responsible.”
“Yet again, we see people falling ill right across the summer season at a hotel with an appalling track record of serious outbreaks of sickness. We said a year ago that fundamental changes in the hotel’s food hygiene standards and procedures needed to be made and that guests should not be sent there until the changes were made and it was safe to stay there. First Choice can’t say it hasn’t been warned and it has had more than enough time to sort this out.
“It’s time to either shut this hotel down and sort it out once and for all, or for First Choice to simply stop taking any more bookings.”
Mr. Garner revealed that Irwin Mitchell is now aware of:
- More than forty-five reported cases of salmonella food poisoning this summer
- Three reported cases of campylobacter (a condition usually caused by exposure to contaminated food or water, or eating raw meat)
- More than 260 British guests at the hotel since 2005 who have suffered salmonella or similar food poisoning
- Numerous men, women and children left with ongoing health issues following their stay at the hotel
The travel claims specialists at Irwin Mitchell have heard a variety of complaints about the food served at the all-inclusive resort, along with poor hygiene standards at the hotel and its facilities, including faeces in the swimming pool.
Many of the guests have endured symptoms including acute pain, sickness, diarrhoea and stomach cramps over a prolonged period during their holidays. Some guests had to seek medical attention for their symptoms with entire families being affected in some cases, and in one instance a baby had to be put on a drip to alleviate symptoms.
Mr. Garner added: “So far this summer, we have been instructed by more than 550 guests of the Holiday Village Turkey, but from previous experience of claims arising at this hotel and many others we fear that this is just the tip of the iceberg. More than 100 people rang us last week alone to report falling ill there and the season hasn’t ended yet.
“Tour operators have a duty of care to ensure that the hotels where they send their customers meet reasonable health and safety standards that are in place for a very good reason. If they cannot ensure holidaymakers’ safety, the answer is simple - stop sending them there.”
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