Advertisment
The website advertisement promoted two day tours from Dublin, a
“Ring of Kerry and Dingle Peninsula 2 Day Tour” and a
“2 Day Connemara, Galway, Cliffs of Moher (including boat trip) & Aran Island Tour”.
Under the links for these tours, text stated “If you have a little more time, join us on a two day trip from Dublin to see some of Ireland’s must rugged scenery.” Further information was given generally on the tours and what was included.
Complaint
The complainant considered the advertisement for the 2 overnight tours to be misleading. When he contacted the company, he was advised that the tours were no longer available. However, the tours referenced were listed on the website without any indication that they were subject to availability or had been cancelled.
Response
The advertisers said that they had nothing to say other than for the complainant to read the detail and information on their site and literature. They said they carried over 100,000 passengers from around the world every year and they knew exactly what they were doing and buying. They said their company was rated on TripAdvisor as the number 1 operator in Ireland consistently year on year since 2016 and had just won the award as operating the 6th best tour in the world on Trip Advisor Travellers Experiences 2019. They said that no other operator in the history of tourism in Ireland had won such an accolade.
Further information:
The ASAI Executive reviewed the advertisement and noted that, while the destinations were available, they appeared to be available on a group basis only.
Conclusion
Complaint upheld.
The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response.
The Committee noted that while the information on the tours’ availability was available within the Tour Details section for each tour, the information provided on the initial page stated “join us on a two day trip” which the Committee considered indicated that it was available to individual travellers. As this was not the case, they considered that the advertisement was likely to mislead and was in breach of Sections 4.1 and 4.4 of the Code.
ACTION REQUIRED:
The advertisement must not appear in the current form.
