Support for Normal Departure Separate from Outstanding Payment Settlement
Encouraging Recontract with Own Point Rewards and Discount Benefits
Travel Agencies Must Bear Penalties for Flight and Accommodation Cancellations
"Urgent Cooperation Needed from Government, Airlines, Hotels, etc." Appeals
As the delay in payment settlements by TMON and WEMAKEPRICE has put consumers planning trips during the vacation season in a difficult situation, the travel industry is expanding support measures to minimize the damage to these customers. They are encouraging re-contracting through travel agencies by waiving cancellation penalties or offering discount promotions, and supporting travelers' normal departures regardless of the outstanding payment issues.
According to the related industry on the 26th, Kyowon Tour proposed a countermeasure introducing a pre-payment deposit system for re-contract payments. Specifically, starting from the 29th, customers with imminent departures who re-contract for high-cost products can pay 50% upfront and settle the remaining balance within 30 days after completing the trip. Consumers can reduce the initial cost burden required for re-contracting through installment payments.
Kyowon Tour is also proceeding with re-contracts by informing customers that, despite some losses, payments can be made with the same amount through promotions such as e-commerce exclusive discount coupons and credit card discounts. Customers wishing to cancel their trips will have their cancellation penalties fully waived.
For customers with September departure products that have flexible schedules, the pre-payment deposit system will be operated. The pre-payment deposit is set as a method where only part of the product price is paid initially, and the remaining balance is paid before the trip departure. Separately, travelers scheduled to depart by the 28th can travel normally regardless of TMON and WEMAKEPRICE’s payment settlements.
A Kyowon Tour representative said, "We have prepared measures to minimize customer damage caused by the unsettled payment situation and to reduce the cost burden of re-contracting," adding, "We will continue to focus all our efforts on minimizing customer damage."
Online Travel Agency (OTA) Yanolja plans to compensate about 80,000 customers who have difficulty using reserved and paid accommodation and leisure products with Yanolja points equivalent to the reservation amount. The scale of points Yanolja will provide is about 5 billion KRW. Detailed information on point issuance will be individually notified. Additionally, regardless of TMON and WEMAKEPRICE’s settlement delays, Yanolja plans to fully cover the costs for products that have been processed for use on the Yanolja platform to partner stores. Previously, Yanolja announced that accommodation reservations up to the 28th based on check-in dates would be usable normally, while reservations from the 29th onward would be marked as unusable. The company explained that including unsettled payments and usage over this weekend, the burden on the Yanolja platform is expected to be about 30 billion KRW.
Victims of Tmon are entering the building and waiting for a response from Tmon at the new Tmon headquarters in Sinsa, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]
Interpark Triple, a subsidiary of Yanolja, has guaranteed the departure of all customers who purchased Interpark Tour’s package products departing in July and August as originally planned. Interpark Tour will guarantee departures without separate procedures for customers who did not receive refunds from TMON and WEMAKEPRICE and have not re-paid to Interpark Tour. For customers who re-paid to Interpark Tour but did not receive refunds from TMON and WEMAKEPRICE, the re-payment amount will be refunded.
In addition, Norangpungseon has decided to support smooth operations for trips scheduled to depart by July and fully waive cancellation penalties for products departing after August according to customers’ wishes. They also plan to support re-payment and cancellation of previously paid amounts for customers wishing to travel.
However, the travel industry acknowledges that there are limits to self-help measures to reduce consumer damage. Since each travel agency must prepay related costs for purchasing airline tickets and hotel reservations, which constitute a significant portion of travel expenses, if the unsettled payment issues of TMON and WEMAKEPRICE are not resolved, substantial losses are inevitable, making customer re-payment essential. They appeal that the interest and cooperation of the aviation and hotel industries, led by relevant authorities, are urgently needed to quickly resolve the situation.
A travel industry official lamented, "The actual parties causing the problem are TMON and WEMAKEPRICE, but currently all the blame is being directed only at the travel agencies." He added, "Travel agencies are facing huge losses when penalties for airline and accommodation cancellations are added to the unsettled amounts," and said, "The government, as well as airlines and hotels, must take an active interest and step forward to resolve this issue."
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