Thomson misled customers over ‘adult-only’ claims
Thomson Holidays has been rapped by advertising watchdogs for misleading customers after children were found to be staying at a hotel it had sold as "adult-only".
The operator featured the Atlantica Grand Mediterraneo Resort & Spa in Ermones in Corfu in its Exclusively for Adults range, yet it admitted it could not prevent children staying at the property.
One customer complained after she found there were children booked into the hotel for five out of eight days of her holiday.
Thomson said it considered this only a small number as the hotel had a total of 267 rooms. It also stated that it made it clear in it’s A-Z guide that it could not guarantee there would not be any children at the hotel, even though it was sold as "adult-only".
On its website, Thomson said its Exclusively for Adults range "offers you the chance to find total tranquility in a resort free from the bustle of families and young people".
However, following the complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority, the TUI operator said it was impossible to completely control the presence of children at the hotel.
Thomson said it would not sell a holiday to the property to a child under 16, but claimed the hotelier had sold rooms to local families following warnings from the local authority that it could not exclude children.
The ASA upheld the complaint, saying: "We considered that "Exclusively for Adults" and "An adults-only hotel" were absolute claims which were contradicted by the information in the A-Z guide.
"Because Thomson had not substantiated the claim, and because the information in the A-Z guide contradicted it, we concluded that the claims were misleading."
Thomson said it had since reached an agreement with the hotel that, because all its rooms were allocated to tour operators, they would not be obliged to take bookings from local families.
The ASA also upheld complaints against bargainflightdesk.co.uk and sister site travelup.co.uk for misleading advertising for failing to make it clear that advertised prices for flights to South Africa had extremely limited availability.
By Linsey McNeill
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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