Saudi Gazette report

THE Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage on its website warns of fake travel packages and provides information about licensed travel agencies to prevent the public from falling victims to fraud, especially during the summer vacation. However, many fraud cases have been reported by citizens over the past few decades, Al-Riyadh newspaper reports.

Several fake travel agencies choose social media websites to con the public out of their money.

Mazeed Al-Sehli, a teacher, said he would never buy a travel package off social media websites because the majority of the packages are bogus. Many of his friends were conned out of huge amounts of money after they decided to purchase such packages. So, he prefers to be on the safe side and goes to a licensed travel agency whenever he looks for good travel packages.

Badar Al-Harbi, a public sector employee, bought a travel package from a tourism bureau that turned out to be unlicensed.

“When we arrived at the hotel, we discovered that the rooms given to us were different from the ones shown in the travel package by the agent in Al-Khobar in terms amenities and services. Transportation was not provided although the agent at the bureau assured of free transport services. I will never buy any travel packages from such bureaus unless I am 100 percent sure that they are licensed. I will go to a reputable travel agency instead,” he said.

Abdullah Omar, a teacher, said travel packages offer low prices for spending a week's holiday in a European country, for example. The travel bureaus do it intentionally in order to entice the public to purchase these fake offers.

“Nowadays, one will see people in most malls posing as travel agents and offering holiday packages, most of which are fake. Unfortunately, many people fall for them because they look for cheap travel packages during the summer vacation. Summer travel packages are usually expensive even if one wants to spend the holidays in a small city. The owners of hotels and chalets charge exorbitant prices,” he said.

Dr. Abdullah Al-Maghlouth, a member of the Saudi Economic Association (SEA), said some tourists offices, whether inside the country or abroad, are not licensed.

"But most people are ignorant of this fact. Once a cheap travel package has been dangled in front of their eyes, they will grab it and pay for it without stopping for a moment to think that the package could be fake," he said.

“This is the best time for the concerned authorities to launch campaigns to raise public awareness about the increasing number of fake holiday packages. Social media websites are the most effective tools to reach the maximum number of people during such campaigns,” he noted.

He called upon the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage and the General Authority of Civil Aviation to prevent travel agencies from posting any advertisements about holiday packages online or in the print media unless such agencies have obtained prior approval from the authorities.

Most importantly, the service contract signed between the travel agency and the customer should include an article stating that the agency will refund the money if the services offered are different from the ones mentioned in the contract.