A MOURNE family has vowed never to step foot in Turkey again after a week in the sun turned into holiday hell.
The Nicholsons, of Maghereagh Heights in Kilkeel, were travelling with Goldtrail – the independent operator that went bust during their summer holiday leaving 1000 holidaymakers from Northern Ireland in the lurch.
Care assistant Dana Nicholson, her husband Nigel and youngest daughter Shannon flew out to Turkey earlier this month for what was supposed to be an idyllic break in the up and coming resort of Marmaris.
However, when news of the tour operator’s collapse reached the hotel, Dana says they were hounded for money, threatened and “thrown out on the street”.
Despite the family paying £1080 for the holiday before the left, the hotel demanded they pay a £200 charge for their accommodation.
“We just said we weren’t going to pay. We paid for the holiday in full before we left and didn’t see why we had to pay again,” said Dana.
According to Dana their refusal to pay resulted in the hotel owners becoming confrontational.
“They locked a man in his 60s out of his room, he had no luggage or anything. They were coming down to us with a spare key so we pulled the door over,” she added.
“We had already packed because we were worried something like this would happen. They were shouting and roaring about the money and saying they were going to put us out on the road.”
The Nicholsons managed to get out of the hotel but were left without a roof over their heads for the final night of their holiday.
“We didn’t know where to go. Everywhere was saying they were fully booked,” she said.
“We went to this place, where we were first booked into, and they said we could sleep on the sunbeds and use the facilities.
“But luckily a room came up and we were able to stay and go home the next morning. I can tell you I was never as glad in my life to get home.”
The family heard about Goldtrail’s demise from a text from daughter Kirsty, who was at home.
“We couldn’t believe our bad luck, then things just turned from bad to worse,” Dana said.
“Some people are still there and were put out of their hotels. It was a disaster.”
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) intervened on behalf of stranded tourists and the Nicholsons were able to go home on their planned flight last Monday.
Dana, who admits she’s still fuming about the experience, remains critical of the response to Air Travel Organisers Licensing (ATOL) to the plight of tourists who feared being stranded.
“We contacted them to try and find out what was going on but they didn’t want to know and put the phone down on us,” she added.
“On the way to the airport, a taxi driver told us he was so ashamed of the Turkish and hoped it wouldn’t put us off coming back. But it has, I’ll never step foot in Turkey again.”