Covent Garden-based Oriental Travel has been ticked off by the Advertising Standards Authority for ignoring its request for information about misleading claims in its brochure.
Upholding two complaints from customers against the China, Vietnam and Cambodia specialist, the ASA said it was concerned about the company’s lack of response and apparent disregard for the advertising code.
The matter has been referred to the Committee of Advertising Practice compliance team.
A customer complained to the ASA about a description of a holiday to China in Oriental’s brochure has a couple of elements included in the itinerary were omitted from the holiday last autumn.
The customer said that their guide had told him that an advertised picnic with a glass of bubbly on a watchtower at the Great Wall of China couldn’t go ahead because the Chinese authorities had banned food from the Great Wall "some time ago".
Also, a cruise on the Yangtze omitted a promised sail through the Xiling gorge and also a shore excursion to the Fengdu Snow Jade Cave.
The ASA told The Oriental Travel Company, trading as Oriental Travel, not to misleadingly imply elements were included in holidays that might not be the case.
