Holidaymakers Suffering Illness Now Taking Legal Action Against Tour Operator

A Manchester family is part of a group of holidaymakers taking legal action against a tour operator after their five-star trip to Egypt was ruined by gastric illness.

Travel law experts at Irwin Mitchell are currently instructed by nine holidaymakers who stayed at the Jaz Mirabel Park, Sharm el Sheikh, in July this year through holidays booked via Thomson Holidays.

Eight of the nine holidaymakers who travelled to the 196-room hotel have suffered from diarrhoea and stomach pains and blame their illness on poor food hygiene in the five-star resort’s restaurant.

Nicola Coady, her husband Michael and their two young children Callum, aged 13, and Kian, seven, had their two-weeks family holiday ruined when Nicola’s symptoms began within days of arriving at the holiday resort.

Gurpinder Chana, a travel law specialist at Irwin Mitchell representing the group, said: “Our clients including the Coady family feel very let down by their experience at the Jaz Mirabel Park. They have suffered with gastric illnesses whilst on holiday and these symptoms have failed to resolve for a number of them. We are very concerned about the conditions that they have reported to us at the hotel and we will be inviting Thomsons to provide an early admission of liability for our clients’ illnesses.”

Nicola, 38, from Levenshulme, Manchester, said: “This was our first family holiday in three years and it’s so frustrating to see all our hard-earned money go down the drain. We were affected by illnesses and had to have medication from the local chemist. A number of us are still suffering now from the same problems. You just don’t expect to go on holiday and come back feeling so poorly.”

The family complained of undercooked food heated solely by tea light candles. They also said food that should have been chilled such as cream cakes, cheese, and salads were uncovered and not in chilled sections of the buffet.

Nicola added: “It seemed as though the same food was being served up more than once and it was often not piping hot. There were flies on the food and birds flying around in the outside dining areas and eating off the plates.

“The pool water wasn’t clean and there was dirt in between the tiles. On three separate occasions the pool was closed for an hour due to diarrhoea from a hotel guest, but all the staff seemed to do was scoop it out and put some powder in the pool and reopen it. The conditions were just shocking.”