Abandoning 292 tourists in Phu Quoc, a travel company was suspended from operations

Taiwan's Tourism Bureau has decided to suspend We Love Tour for three months after abandoning 292 tourists in Phu Quoc during the recent Lunar New Year.

Nhóm khách của We Love Tour ở sân bay Đào Viên chuẩn bị đến Phú Quốc ngày 16.2 (Ảnh: CNA)

We Love Tour's group of guests at Taoyuan Airport preparing to depart for Phu Quoc on February 16. (Source: CNA)

On the evening of February 16, according to Focus Taiwan, the Taiwan Tourism Bureau issued a decision to suspend the operation of We Love Tour company for 3 months after the incident that left 292 tourists "abandoned" during the Lunar New Year holiday in Phu Quoc.

According to the investigation, this company is facing financial difficulties, with a debt of more than 10 million NTD (equivalent to 7.8 billion VND). The management agency also determined that We Love Tour violated the rights of customers after allowing 292 tourists to book a tour from Taipei to Phu Quoc Island but the schedule was changed by the Vietnamese tour operator partner - Winner Company.

The three-month suspension was imposed on the company under sections 36 and 38 of the Consumer Protection Act to prevent other consumers from having their rights violated, the Tourism Department said.

The suspension of business will affect about 430 customers that We Love Tour had scheduled tours for between now and April, said the head of the Travel Business Department. All We Love Tour customers whose tours are canceled under the decision can request compensation from the company or ask the company to help them transfer their itinerary to another travel agency in Taiwan.

We Love Tour was also banned from taking another group of guests to Phu Quoc on February 16.

Authorities found evidence that We Love Tour only paid for airfare and local hotels for the tour group, without paying tour operating costs to travel agencies in Vietnam.

Regarding the accusation that We Love Tour violated management regulations, the authorities said they will collect evidence and victim testimonies from Taiwanese tourist groups who went to Phu Quoc on February 9 and 10, then evaluate the allegations based on Taiwanese law.

If We Love Tour CEO David Lin fails to resolve the issues with the company, the Taiwan Tourism Quality Assurance Association will revoke its membership. In addition, if the company fails to provide satisfactory proposals on how to improve its operations within 3 months, the suspension period will be extended.

Previously, We Love Tour's partner company in Vietnam - Winner Vietnam International Travel Company Limited was also administratively fined by the Kien Giang Provincial Department of Tourism for operating travel services "without a travel contract with businesses, tourists or representatives of tourists as prescribed". Mr. Hoang Tuan Minh, Director of Winner Vietnam, felt "unconvinced" when receiving the notice of administrative fine and "will file a complaint".

Responding to Focus Taiwan, Ziontour - a Vietnamese travel company that has cooperated with We Love Tour for 11 years, accused the Taiwanese travel company of repeatedly delaying payments to Vietnamese partners and owing at least 4 local operators. Mr. Phan Anh Tri, General Director of Ziontour (based in Da Nang), said that We Love Tour owed his company 80,000 USD (about 2 billion VND) since 2019, and has only paid 10,000 USD so far.

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