HK travel firm offers refund for the first client who finds live bedbugs in South Korea

A Hong Kong travel firm is offering a refund to the first customer who finds live bedbugs while travelling in South Korea, local media reported.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the partial refund is for the first traveller who finds a live bedbug in a hotel, coach or restaurant while on any trip to South Korea between Dec 1 and Feb 29, 2024.

A staff member, such as a tour guide or driver, would have to verify the bedbug discovery, and the refund would be given upon the traveller’s return to Hong Kong.

The partial refund would not include service charges, insurance, taxes, visa fees and other miscellaneous expenses, reported The Standard newspaper.

Mr Simon Ma Sai-man, deputy general manager of Wing On Travel, said the move is aimed at regaining customers’ confidence in the company’s South Korean tour groups, following fears of a bedbug infestation in the country in recent weeks. The number of registrations for such tour groups dropped significantly in the past two weeks.

The policy is not to encourage tourists to “hunt for bedbugs” during their tour, added Mr Ma.

However, another travel agency said it “believe(s) the bedbug problem has passed” and “sign-up numbers have returned to normal”, reported SCMP.

In early November, people in Hong Kong went on a

buying spree, snapping up insect killers and hiring pest control services

after the city’s rail operator MTR Corp carried out a deep cleaning of some of its trains, high-speed rail and Disneyland lines following a widely shared photo of a brown, oval-shaped insect on an Airport Express train.

In the past few months, the bedbug scourge has caused concerns in France, Britain and South Korea. Although bedbugs do not transmit infectious diseases as they feed on human blood, their bites

can lead to secondary skin infections

.

It is advisable for travellers to always check their surroundings, such as folds of luggage, clothes and bedding, for any sign of infestation, the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.

According to the CDC, it is best to avoid scratching bedbug bites and to apply antiseptic creams or lotions.

The Straits Times has contacted Wing On Travel for more information.