British tourists held 'hostage' by armed guards in Tunisia hotel released after indebted travel firm Thomas Cook pays up
British tourists who were being held hostage at the Les Orangers resort in Tunisia on September 22 by the hotel owners have been released. Late on September 21, the hotel owners got its security guards to shut the gates. Their action was motivated by the fear that the indebted travel giant Thomas Cook was on the verge of going bust and would not be able to foot the bill of its guests at the resort.
The hotel had summoned all guests who had booked via Thomas Cook to the reception. They were informed that they would have to "pay additional fees, obviously because of the situation with Thomas Cook." When many tourists refused as they had already paid the travel company, armed security guards were asked to patrol the closed hotel’s gates and the staff refused to let the guests leave.
One of the guests posted a video of the tense scene, tweeting "PLEASE SHARE!!! Because of Thomas Cook situation, all UK tourist including myself and my partner have been held in Tunisia in the hotel Les Oranges beach hotel. Guests are being charged extortionate rates and the hotel keeping guests imprisoned!!!" The hotel's guests are seen standing in front of the locked gates in the video, unable to leave, trying to text their loved ones and other authorities.
Some of the guests simply paid up when ordered to do so by the staff, using their credit cards, despite having already paid Thomas Cook for all their travels. One guest's son tweeted an image of the letter his father had received from the hotel's management.
One of the guests, speaking to BBC Five during the crisis, said: "We can’t leave the hotel. I’d describe it as exactly the same as being held hostage. We’ve been up to the gates. They had four security guards on the gates, holding the gates closed, and [they] were not allowing anybody to leave."
The situation was sorted out after Thomas Cook handed over the outstanding amount it owed to the Tunisian hotel staff and also refunded the guests who had already paid the hotel staff. The British Consulate in Tunisia helped in getting the guests out. Ian H Rees, whose daughter was one of the guests tweeted: "#ThomasCook So, good news in the story of tourists, including my daughter, being prevented from leaving their resort in Hammamet Tunisia. They are now on the bus to the airport. Hooray and well done whoever eventually sorted it out." The travel company said that any guests with bookings at the Les Orangers would be diverted elsewhere.
A spokesman for Thomas Cook said: "We are aware that a small number of customers were asked to pay for their hotel room before leaving Les Orangers in Tunisia yesterday. "This has now been resolved and customers flew home as planned. We continue to support our customers in all our resorts." The 178-year-old company is currently having last-ditch talks with creditors and shareholders to save itself from collapsing. However, the incident has worried tourists who have booked their trips through Thomas Cook, with many wondering if they should cancel their holidays. The UK government has been called on to save the company, which currently has 600,000 customers on holiday, including up to 160,000 British tourists.