BBC News reports that a family has been awarded compensation after becoming seriously ill whilst on holiday. It is said that the Palin family, who hail from the West Midlands, were hit by outbreaks of salmonella and cryptosporidium – in other words sickness and diarrhoea – at their hotel in Majorca in 2003. As a result, the Palin’s dream holiday was ruined. They could not leave their hotel room and this meant they could not do those usual holiday activities like going to the beach or going on one of the many excursions on offer. As Mrs Palin said herself, ‘We have no happy memories of what was supposed to be, at the time, a dream holiday.’
It would seem that the Palin’s were not the only ones to have their holiday ruined either. BBC News states that there were another 10 victims from the West Midlands, and that in the end 49 people that caught the bug whilst at their hotel in Majorca were also able to obtain compensation. At the Birmingham County Court it was held that Thomson, the tour operator for the holiday, was liable for their customers becoming sick. It was said that Thomson had breached the duty of care they owed their customers by failing to warn them of the bout of sickness that was going through the hotel. It would also appear that this is the first time that a tour operator has been found liable for the illnesses of its customers.
