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Tourists accept they will lose money
An independent tour operator to Sri Lanka has told how many tourists due to travel to affected areas have accepted they are unlikely to get full refunds. Red Dot Tours is not a member of ABTA and as such does not offer holidaymakers an automatic refund if they are unable to travel because of an ‘act of God’. Instead, it promises to recover as much money for holidaymakers as possible. Many Red Dot clients due to travel to coastal areas in Sri Lanka will be out of pocket because the operator will not be able to get money back from hoteliers, many of whom have lost their property and, in some cases, their lives. Red Dot director David Hopps said his clients were accepting the situation graciously. “We are a small company and make it clear before anyone books that we cannot offer the same guarantees that you get with ABTA,” he said. “Some people have still wanted to travel and we have been able to change their itineraries, but some have not wanted to go and will lose some money. “But most of our clients are very independent-minded and know they would have lost all their money if they had just booked things separately themselves. Most of them have nothing but sympathy for the plight of the Sri Lankans. We have had people distressed because they have been evacuated from their hotel without paying for food and drink and they want to send the money to the families.” London-based marketing executive Graham Horner, 27, was due to travel with his girlfriend Kirsty Lord, 28, to Sri Lanka for two weeks, departing on Boxing Day and visiting inland and coastal areas. They cancelled the trip and expect to lose around a third of the £3,000 they paid for the holiday. “On Boxing Day, the disaster had only just happened, the information was sketchy and we didn’t think we could go,” said Horner. “But I have a good relationship with Red Dot, who have continually kept us informed of matters, and we hope to go to Sri Lanka soon.” But Hopps said not all holidaymakers were as understanding of the situation. “We had one client, who was staying in a hotel which was destroyed. When he got back home he emailed us to ask if we could get his passport, credit cards and valuables from the safe as this would still be intact. I explained it was a difficult request as it would not be a priority for the aid workers.”
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