Man sues travel agency after taking 'anti-nuclear' cruise

Man sues travel agency after taking 'anti-nuclear' cruise

• Source: Global Times
• [09:56 March 15 2011]
• Comments

By Yan Shuang

Trial for a man's lawsuit against a travel agency began Monday after he claimed they did not provide promised services and booked him on an "anti-nuclear" world cruise containing "anti-Chinese" propaganda, according to Dongcheng district court release.

Beijing resident Guo Jiyuan booked three 100-day world cruises through China Travel Services Head Office on May 31, 2009, which in total cost more than 600,000 yuan ($91,345).

The agency was to arrange three cruises in five years for Guo, as laid out in their contract, according to the court.

However Guo found on his first trip, which lasted from August to December 2009, that the promised "luxury cruiser" was a 45-year-old liner without a tour guide.

Among the 700 tourists on the ship, mostly Japanese, only five were Chinese with one translator.

Guo described the trip as "anti-nuclear," with lectures held onboard about bombings and pictures of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks posted throughout the ship.

After finding what the court release describes as "anti-Chinese books" on the ship, one Chinese tourist spoke out in defense of his country, which sparked tension between tourists, according to the court release.

Also, the 20 ports originally scheduled for the liner were cut to 17, Guo claimed.

After returning to Beijing, Guo inquired about the scheduling of the next trip, but was told by the agency "it had not yet been arranged."

Guo then requested to cancel his contract and the agents to provide a 446,528 yuan refund.

However, the agency claimed they merely booked the trip through a Japanese travel company that owns the cruise liner, and Guo was not eligible for a refund.

The Japanese tour company was promoting the cruise package as having a "friendship between China and Japan" theme, according to the release.

The court has yet to reach a verdict.