Specialist operator chastised by advertising watchdog
Opera and dance holiday specialist Travel for the Arts has been rapped by advertising watchdogs for the way in which it promoted trips to the annual Vienna ball.
Advertising watchdogs launched an investigation after two consumers complained that the company’s brochure and an e-mail advertising its holidays to a "Vienna Summer Palace Ball" were misleading because the event was held in the city’s town hall, not a palace.
The pair also complained that the ad stated clients would be seated in a private area, yet this was shared with another group.
The ASA upheld both complaints and ordered Travel for the Arts not to repeat the ad in its present form.
However, it dismissed a third claim that the company had misled the public by stating they would provide a local tour manager, who turned out not to be a Travel for the Arts employee but a local contractor who also brought her own clients into the "private area".
The ASA said: "We considered consumers would understand the claim that they would benefit from the "services of our local representative or tour manager" to mean that they would be provided with the services of a local representative who had been contracted to guide the tour.
"Because we understood that that was the case, we considered the claim was not likely to mislead and therefore concluded that the ad did not breach the Code."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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