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[53] 2011.04.15
A rapidly increasing number of tour consultations after earthquakes in Japan: More than 10 times compared to last February




Room 701, Seoul YWCA, 1-1, Myeongdong 1(il)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul,

TEL +82-02-774-4050, FAX +82-02-774-4090

 

Press Release

 

 Effective Date

: April 12, 2011

 Dept. in Charge

 

 

:Secretary-General

Choi Su-gyeong

:Assistant Administrator Ryu Soo-Yang

Tel

:+82-02-774-4050

A rapidly increasing number of tour consultations after earthquakes in Japan: More than 10 times compared to last February

- Consultations on fees and penality upon the cancellation of reservations account for 92% of the total number of consultations -

- A concrete government guideline on the cancellation of tours without penalty is needed-

 

The Korea National Council of Consumer Organizations (Chairperson: Kim Jae-ok) analyzed consultations received from 194 consumer counseling centers and 10 consumer organizations nationwide in March, and discovered that the number of inquiries regarding tours to Japan increased from 39 cases in February to 309 cases in March, demonstrating a drastic 10-fold increase.

 

In particular, after a massive earthquake occurred on March 11 in Japan, the number of consultations was 295 cases, which were mainly regarding consumers' concerns about earthquakes, the tsunami, and radioactive discharge. Inquiries about tours to Japan numbered 196 cases (66.4%), inquires about tours to countries in Southeast Asia and Hawaii, which are located around the Pacific Rim, consisted of 63 cases (21.4%), and inquiries about traveling via airports in Japan numbered 21 cases (7.1%).

 

An ambiguous definition of natural disasters that allows the cancellation of tours without penalty

 

Despite the fact that the Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism and the Korea Tourism Association requested the cooperation of travel agencies to not impose cancellation charges on the cancellations of airline tickets and accommodation reservations upon the earthquakes in Japan last March 11, consumers' consultations regarding cancellation charges consisted of 272 cases (92.2%), accounting for the largest percentage of consultations. Even though the current domestic and overseas travel standard contract allows consumers to cancel travel plans without penalty in cases of natural disasters, the definition of natural disasters is ambiguous, and therefore each travel agency interprets the cancellation policy and charges differently.

 

Since March 23, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has issued a Travel Alert Level 1 on Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture; a Travel Alert Level 2 on five prefectures (Ibaraki, Iwate, Aomori, Fukushima, and Miyagi) located in northeast Japan; and a Travel Alert Level 3 on areas located within 30km of the nuclear plants in Hukushima. However, there were no concrete government guidelines on from which alert level customers were allowed to cancel their reservations without penalty, as well as on applicable areas.

 

Accordingly, the Korea National Council of Consumer Organizations, jointly with other related government agencies and businesses, has begun to concretely clarify related regulations such as the travel standard contract and the consumer conflict resolution guidelines, and it also plans to continuously discuss losses related to the occurrence of natural disasters.

Attachment: The number of tour consultation cases after the occurrence of earthquakes in Japan

< Group Members >

Consumers Korea, Korea Federation of Housewives Clubs, National Council of Homemakers' Classes, Korea Women's Association, Korea Consumer Affairs Institute, Korea Consumers Education Center, Consumers Union of Korea, YMCA Korea, National YWCA of Korea, Green Consumers Network in Korea



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