The visitors had booked a four-day tour of the island through the We Love Tour company in Taipei and arrived by charter flight on February 10, the Lunar New Year.
Hoang Tuan Minh, director of local travel agency Winner Vietnam, which was to provide services to them, said: VnExpress that the Taiwanese partner had agreed to make full payment by January 31.
But that failed and so he canceled the contract, he said.
But the Taiwanese company went ahead and sent the group to Phu Quoc, where there were no vehicles or hotels waiting for them.
He contacted Minh and begged him to take care of the visitors.
He agreed on “humanitarian” grounds and sent 18 buses and Chinese-speaking guides to Phu Quoc airport and accommodated the visitors in two five-star hotels.
The Taiwanese company had promised to pay on February 11.
But once again the company did not pay and Minh informed the company that he would no longer serve tourists.
He had already spent billions of dong (1 billion VND = 40,700 US dollars).
The Taiwanese company then asked the tourists to pay it $720 each, promising to repay the money later, but only 90 of them agreed.
Many complained on social media, prompting authorities to intervene.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, which handles overseas Taiwanese affairs, contacted both sides, asking the Taiwanese company to make full payment by Feb. 26 and Minh to continue welcoming tourists .
The former airline also failed to pay for the visitors’ round-trip plane tickets, and it remains to be seen whether they will be able to board a plane on February 14 as planned.
Bui Quoc Thai, director of the Tourism Department of Kien Giang province, where Phu Quoc is located, said an inspection team had been formed to look into the dispute.
