A family of four spent more than $11,000 for a Europe tour. Ms Wu, a 55 year old housewife, her husband, two children and four others participated in a 13 day European tour group.
The trip was planned from August last year and it was considered an annual family trip. Before their departure, the pandemic has been already widely spread in the European region. The family were hesitant and wondered if they should continue their trip, but the travel agency assured them there they have not received any information on a travel ban and the trip can continue as planned.
They departed to Germany on March 12 and they did some local shopping for 2 hours. The next day, they were supposed to travel to Czech Republic but the travel agent informed everyone that the country would most likely close its borders due to the covid pandemic. They were left with no other option but to return to Singapore.
Ms Wu stated that they paid more than $2800 per person for the tour and the total cost for the whole family was more than $11,000. Who knew the trip would be cancelled after travelling all the way there.
The family tried to submit a travel insurance claim to their insurance company but they were informed that the World Health Organization has updated their travel advisory to European countries before they traveled to Europe. Therefore denying their claims for compensation. The travel agency denied any wrongdoing.
Till today, the family is currently waiting for the travel agency to resume business so that they can get a partial refund on their travel expenses.