At a press conference held yesterday afternoon, February 17th, by the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, Mr. Chang Yung-cheng, Chairman of the Taiwan Tourism Quality Assurance Association, accused Lin Dajun (or David Lin), General Manager of Mega International Travel Company (which operates We Love Tour), of failing to fulfill all his promises and claiming his account was completely empty. The funds were immediately withdrawn upon entry into his account. Meanwhile, he continued selling tours despite the financial difficulties. According to Mr. Chang, this was essentially a deliberate act of fraud.
Abandonment of 300 tourists in Phu Quoc: Accused of 'intentional fraud'
Mr. Truong Vinh Thanh accuses Lam Dai Quan of fraud at a press conference.
Mr. Zhang explained that the association is a private organization entrusted by the Taiwan Tourism Bureau to actively protect the rights and interests of tourists. On February 13th, there was information that We Love Tour had not paid the charter flight costs to Bamboo Airways to bring stranded tourists back to Taiwan on February 14th. The association's General Secretary, Wu Mei-Hui, and Mr. Zhang immediately went to meet with Bamboo Airways' general agent to investigate the matter. Lin Da-Chun was also present at the time and declared: "There is no problem at all. The payment of 3 million NTD for the plane ticket will be transferred at 3 PM."
"But the payment is still outstanding. Lin Daijun has made many promises, but none have been kept," Zhang said angrily, according to Yahoo News .
Lam Dai Quan declared that the company no longer had the money to compensate the tourists.
We Love Tour abandoned 292 tourists on Phu Quoc Island during the Lunar New Year holiday. The company has now been suspended from operation and fined 810,000 New Taiwan Dollars (over 630 million VND). Lam Dai-Kwan initially promised to refund the customers, but the company no longer has the funds to compensate them.
Mr. Chang Yung-cheng urged tourists to provide relevant evidence to the Taiwan Quality Assurance Association to help them file a class-action lawsuit against Lin Tai-chun for "intentionally committing fraud." He argued that Lin should be removed from the tourism business environment, which comprises more than 4,000 companies in Taiwan.
Quick update at 12 PM on February 18th: 300 tourists abandoned in Phu Quoc: Accused of 'intentional fraud'
Meanwhile, the amount in dispute is estimated at 20 million New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 16 billion Vietnamese Dong). Ms. Ngo My Hue stated that We Love Tour had collected approximately 13 million New Taiwan Dollars from tourist groups visiting Phu Quoc. The group of 292 people who were abandoned were forced to pay about 2 million New Taiwan Dollars for meals. The total cost for these people to return to Taiwan is estimated at around 20 million New Taiwan Dollars. The association also outlined methods for tourists to claim compensation.
Tourists return to Taoyuan Airport after a tumultuous trip to Phu Quoc.
Taiwan's tourism authority indicated that if tourism cannot continue operating due to financial difficulties, with We Love Tour having purchased insurance worth NT$10 million, tourists can still receive compensation. If the total amount claimed exceeds the insurance limit, the association will assist in covering the losses.
The incident has prompted Taiwan's tourism industry to call for legal reforms and plans to increase penalties for violations, with an expected increase of 1.2 to 2 times. The issue has been discussed, and a related draft will be released as soon as possible, expected in the first half of this year. Additionally, an increase in travel insurance premiums has also been proposed…
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