A tourist from Germany complained to the court that during his vacation in Greece, he couldn't sunbathe on a sunbed because it was constantly occupied by other tourists, marked with towels, writes the BBC.
Photo by Peter Cade / Getty Images
This man, whose name has not been released to the press, was vacationing with his family in Greece in 2024. Every morning he would wake up at six o'clock to reserve a sunbed — and still failed.
For the family vacation at a hotel on the Greek island of Kos — him, his wife, and two children — he paid 7186 euros.
Upon his return, he complained to the district court of Hanover about the tour operator for not combating this practice of "reserving" sunbeds with towels.
In court, he stated that the hotel itself had banned this practice, but the tour operator did nothing to enforce the ban, meaning they did not require guests not to mark sunbeds with towels.
As a result, according to him, the children had to sunbathe on the floor.
The tour operator had already paid him 350 euros in compensation before the trial, but the court decided that this was insufficient and awarded him 986 euros and 70 cents.
The judge explained that, although the tour operator does not own the hotel and therefore cannot personally ensure a free sunbed for each client, they should have ensured that the vacation at the resort where they sell tours was properly organized, including providing a "reasonable" ratio of sunbeds to guests.
Tourists face the problem of sunbeds or loungers constantly "reserved" with towels in many places.
Last year, for example, videos appeared on social media of tourists in the Canary Islands sleeping on sun loungers to avoid losing their spot by the pool.
Some tourist companies are trying to combat this problem. Thomas Cook Tourism, for instance, offers clients the option to pre-book a spot by the pool – for an additional fee.
In Spain, in some places, large fines have been introduced for tourists who occupy sunbathing spots with a towel or their belongings and then disappear for a long time.
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