ASA Adjudication on TUI UK Ltd

Ad

A brochure ad for First Choice Holidays stated " ... Coral Sea Hurghada ... you'll find plenty of space to unwind here, with its huge gardens home to green lawns and pink flowers. A true family hotel, even the beach is child-friendly, with sands dipping gently into the Red Sea". It included photographs of the hotel and grounds, one of which seemed to show the hotel on the seafront; another photograph showed the hotel gardens with the sea behind them. Text stated "Distance to beach Beachfront".

Issue

The complainant, who had visited the Coral Sea Hurghada hotel and found the "beach" was on a man-made lagoon, challenged whether the ad misleadingly implied the resort offered direct access to the Red Sea and a natural beach.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

First Choice Holidays explained that the beach and sheltered lagoon at the Coral Sea Hurghada hotel were man-made; it had begun as a small, natural lagoon but the hotel had expanded it.  They said both the beach and the lagoon were each 16,975 m2 and the water in the lagoon was the Red Sea.  They therefore believed the claim ... with sands dipping gently into the Red Sea" was true.  

First Choice Holidays said the hotel had quite large grounds and its facilities were spread out.  They believed the hotel had a beachfront location and added that the distance from the hotel's reception to the lagoon was 320 m.  They stated that the neighbouring hotels to the Coral Sea Hughada hotel both had natural beaches and it was therefore 495 m from the reception to a natural beach.

First Choice Holidays said the lagoon opened out into the Red Sea - the distance was 175 m - and therefore the Red Sea could be accessed from the lagoon.  They said the swimming area was buoyed off.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA considered that the overall impression of the ad, which included the claim "with sands dipping gently into the Red Sea", suggested the Red Sea and a natural beach were directly accessible from the resort.  We understood, however, that the hotel provided direct access to a man-made beach and lagoon and the nearest natural beach was 495 m away.  We considered 495 m was further than would be expected from the description "beachfront".  We noted First Choice Holidays' comment that the water in the lagoon was the Red Sea; we considered however that the claim implied the sands dipped gently into the Red Sea itself and not a lagoon.  Although First Choice Holidays said the open sea could be accessed from the lagoon, we noted the swimming area was 'buoyed off' and were not convinced it would be safe to swim 175 m past boats and jet skis to the open sea.

We considered the fact that the "beachfront" location was a man-made beach and lagoon needed to be made clear, to avoid disappointing consumers who were likely to expect natural phenomena such as waves and tides, which the man-made beach and lagoon would not provide.

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

Action

We told First Choice Holidays to remove the claim "with sands dipping gently into the Red Sea" and to place an asterisk beside the claim "beachfront" and link that to text clarifying that it was a man-made beach and lagoon.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)