From Ms P.P. Amodeo

With all the importance and hype being given to Brand Malta, I feel that I have to share the following with your readers.

Several English language students, particularly those hailing from the Far East, have, on different occasions, been cruelly cheated by a travel agency in St Julian’s.

The pattern is invariably the same. A student goes in to enquire about the cost of a week’s holiday in, say, Greece. The smiling, charming person quotes a price, stressing that unless an instant deposit is paid, bookings cannot be secured. The student duly pays up – Lm40. The next day he goes to collect his tickets and, to his shocked astonishment, when presented with the bill, finds that the price has been hiked up by about Lm60. He asks why and is told, coldly (no charm or smiles) that the extras are taxes. Totally bewildered, the student says that the trip is now beyond his budget, and he has to forgo his holiday. He is informed that the deposit will be forfeited.

When one particular student complained, he was ordered off the premises very rudely. This same student went to another travel agent where, on enquiring about the same holiday, the clerk politely gave him the full cost, and even took the trouble to explain the various taxes to him. He then went to a police station to report the incident, where he was fobbed off and told that it was perfectly legal for the agency to keep the deposit.

This is a flagrant SCAM. These students, no matter what race, colour or creed, come here in good faith, sometimes for months. Many of them have not travelled before, so are unaware of the taxes imposed on travel. Any client using the services of a travel agent should be told the FULL cost up front. This is misinformation at its lowest and tackiest and is certainly not going to improve the image of Malta overseas.

I sincerely hope that this letter will be read and digested by the perpetrators of this scam, and that in future they will desist from cheating their clients in this way.

Patricia P. Amodeo

TA’ XBIEX