Holidaymakers Contact Law Firm After Stay At Holiday Village Red Sea

Travel lawyers at Irwin Mitchell have repeated calls for an investigation into hygiene standards at the Holiday Village Red Sea in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

More holidaymakers have now joined a group of guests taking legal action after being taken ill at the resort between June 2010 and January 2011.

The law firm is now helping more than 200 tourists who have stayed at the hotel over five consecutive years.

As the number of tourists contacting Irwin Mitchell continues to grow, the travel law specialists have demanded immediate action from tour operator First Choice amidst ‘grave concerns’ over safety.

The Tierney family from Glasgow are the latest to contact the law firm. Their New Year’s celebration in Egypt was hit by gastric illness which left two of the family hospitalised just days into 2011.

Frances Tierney, husband James and daughter Sophie visited the resort from 31st December 2010 to 14th January 2011.

The family said the resort was “filthy” and that the “food preparation was diabolical”.

Mrs Tierney added: “I am truly shocked that First Choice continues to send families to this resort, knowing of the problems in the hotel. If Sophie had been any younger this could have been a lot more serious – in those conditions it’s a real risk that small children could die. First Choice should close down the hotel or at the very least conduct a thorough investigation. The fact that people are still experiencing problems is shocking.”

Amandeep Dhillon from Irwin Mitchell’s specialist travel law team said: “The fact that we have been contacted by holidaymakers who stayed at the hotel in June and every consecutive month right up to January this year, and who all became ill, is of grave concern, particularly as we raised serious concerns about Holiday Village Red Sea at the very start of last summer.

“At the time, we asked for fundamental improvements to be made to the hotel’s food hygiene standards and for enhanced procedures to be put in place, maintained and carefully monitored. It appears that despite our concerns and calls for action, problems are still occurring and as a result more people have suffered needlessly.

“Our reaction – and more importantly, that of our clients, is just one of utter dismay. Our clients want to know why First Choice continues to send its customers to Holiday Village Red Sea when illness among guests at the resort has been occurring there for so long and there are continuing problems.

“We are not talking about one or two people here. We now represent over 200 people who have travelled to the resort over the last five years, many of whom still suffer as a result of their illness today. Some were diagnosed with serious conditions such as Salmonella, E-coli, Shigella and Cryptosporidium.
 
“Things have to change and they have to change now. First Choice needs to do the decent thing by its customers. There must be an immediate investigation and this time, for everyone’s sake, they need to get to the root of the problem.”