Plane Crash Prompts Concerns on Dodgy Travel Packages

Questions about the safety of discount package tours to Southeast Asia and China are on the rise following Monday's fatal plane crash in Cambodia.
According to the Ministry of Culture & Tourism, the number of Koreans who traveled to Southeast Asian countries more than doubled from 3.32 million in 2000 to 7.32 million in 2005. The number of travelers to Cambodia, famous for its Angkor Wat historical ruins, increased 15-fold during that period, from 2,046 to 33,072.

With tourism booming in Southeast Asia, some travel agencies are offering discount package tours in a bid to attract customers. While the victims of the accident each paid W599,000 (US$1=W938) for what was intended to be a six-day, four-night Cambodia trip, similar packages can be had for around W270,000 in some places.

In order to offer those bargain-basement prices the agencies sometimes contract with transportation companies that use older buses or planes, and that is becoming a threat to the safety of tourists.
Still, the accident seems to have persuaded few Korean tourists from traveling to Southeast Asia. Three hundred people on Tuesday canceled trips to Cambodia with Hanatour Service, the agency that put the tourists on the plane that crashed. But many tourists booked with other travel agencies left according to schedule.

In order to fill plane seats that they have already booked, travel agencies offer cut-rate tours during the low-demand season, up to one third the price of tours in the high season. Depending on the season, the price of a five-day, three-night tour to Cambodia can vary from around W300,000 to W1.1 million.

Some travel agencies offer tours including food, accommodation and local travel for less than the cost of the plane ticket, but travelers often end up complaining of hidden fees and disappointing tours.

"Choi" paid a local travel agency W500,000 for a five-day, three-night golf trip to Thailand in July of last year, but later filed a case with the Korea Consumer Protection Board requesting for compensation.

"I couldn't get to sleep at the hotel I stayed in the first night because of the noise, and a 'shrimp and pork barbecue' that was supposed to be provided as a special meal was not there. I had a car accident on the way to the airport on the last day and arrived late. The guide didn't direct me through the departure procedures, and I barely got on plane," Choi complained.

Tourism insiders warn that more fatal accidents could happen as agencies are booking cheap airlines to lower their costs.

"Many of the cheap packages to Southeast Asia that are currently on sale are on airplanes that are in poor condition," an official in the tourism industry said. "Because there's a lack of substitute planes, only one or two planes transport all the passengers, and in some cases small airlines with just a few years of domestic flying experience are operating on international routes."