NIS 74,000 for group after unorganized tour

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The Tel Aviv-based Pegasus travel company has been ordered to pay NIS 74,000 in compensation to a group it took on an organized tour of Canada and the US that turned out to be not so well-organized, reports www.mynet.co.il. The group complained that their guide had been unprofessional and had lacked basic knowledge about the countries they were visiting, saying he had often been unfamiliar with the sites they were visiting and had not known the routes they needed to take. According to the report, the group went on the three-week tour in 2007, and soon discovered that their guide often had to rely on explanatory brochures and plaques rather than being able to speak about sites himself, and that he often had to ask passersby for directions. It emerged that the guide had not visited North America in the seven years prior to their tour and that he usually led tours to Turkey. After the trip, the group complained to the company, which offered them only a $110 discount on their next trip. The group then sued the company in the Tel Aviv Magistrates' Court. The report said that Judge Hana Plinner last week ruled in the group's favor and awarded them compensation, saying that travelers going on an organized tour wanted to relieve themselves of the responsibility of having to work out routes and study information for themselves, and to enjoy the benefits of having an informative guide. She said the company's advertising slogan was, "Our guides live and breathe their destinations," but, "I am convinced that this guide did not live or breathe his destination." The report did not say how many people would share the award.