Disappointment & Hope Expressed following The BBC Watchdog Programme on The Holiday Village, Sarigerme
HolidayTravelWatch has viewed the series of reports created by the BBC’s Watchdog team, on complaints received from returning British holidaymakers from the Holiday Village, Sarigerme, Turkey. In particular it has noted the broadcast of Thursday 5 November, 2009, when the team highlighted the work of Dr Lisa Ackerley and her fellow environmental health professionals. In the course of the broadcast, Dr Ackerley’s team reported the following findings:
- No hot water available for staff use in food preparation areas;
- Warning by the tour company’s own health & safety audits, to rectify the lack of hot water for staff hand washing;
- Food apparently not kept at the correct temperature;
- Dishwashers not maintained at the correct temperature for washing purposes;
- A hotel staff member apparently failing to disinfect a thermometer before testing the temperature of cooked food;
- Faecal element discovered in ice cube water.
Prior to going on air, we note the comment provided by the tour company to Watchdog, which in part stated:
“She [Dr Ackerley] did raise some minor issues, of which we were already aware and which are not the source of any infections. The hotel management had already introduced stringent interim measures on these issues to ensure hygiene standards remain high and more than fill all legal criteria. We have taken advice from the travel industry’s leading independent hygiene expert and consulted with other top independent hygiene professionals and without exception, they all disagree with the weighting and significance that Dr Ackerley is placing on some of the issues raised”.
HolidayTravelWatch is disappointed to view this comment, particularly in light of what appears to have been a fair and open enquiry and of the fundemental issues raised therein.
It is also disappointed that during the course of the said broadcast, reference was made to ‘93′ confirmed illnesses; data apparently provided by the Health Protection Agency. The reference to ‘93′ does not reveal the whole picture. This Organisation maintains that in any analysis of a hotel/ship illness scenario, you have to take into account the numbers of unconfirmed diagnoses, along with those confirmed – if this assessment is made, then the picture of any hotel/ship illness problem is considerably different to that claimed by simply concentrating on the number of confirmed illnesses.
In any event, we have stated publicly that one case of illness, no matter where it occurs, is one case too many and attention should be concentrated on the fundemental issues or causes of holidaymakers illnesses.
Frank Brehany, the Senior Consumer Advocate for HolidayTravelWatch states:
“I commend the work of Watchdog on behalf of British holidaymakers and I was naturally disappointed to hear of the findings of Dr Ackerley’s team; it had been my fervent hope that matters had in fact been fully rectified. I was also disappointed to note the comment within the tour operator’s statement, which clearly seeks to create an ‘us versus them’ adversarial approach to universally accepted environmental health principles. I ask; ‘Given the many reports we have received in nearly five years, of both confirmed and non-confirmed illnesses, is this really the way to engender confidence in any particular holiday product?’ ”
He concludes,
“My hope for 2010 is that we do not receive any more complaints of illness from this hotel; I hope that this hotel chain and this tour company will support the good people of Sarigerme by taking steps to ensure that all health & safety recommendations are followed through; I hope that 2010 will demonstrate, insofar as this hotel is concerned, that the ‘adequate’ approach to health & safety is abandoned. The question is; ‘will my hope’s and the hope’s of British holidaymakers now turn into reality?’ Only time will tell!”
HTW has noted that amongst the submissions to the Committee on Toxicity (COT) it has been suggested that the symptoms highlighted by crew and passengers were akin to the condition of hyperventilation.
HTW has for many years received reports from concerned holiday makers or independent travellers as to the safety of their aircraft, ship or boat, train or road transport.
