A group of travel agents has reported a suspected fraud case conducted by the Beijing Imperial Palace Hotel. They say the hotel sold an excess number of rooms to the travel agencies before it was forced to temporarily close its doors for a period of six months by the Macau Tourism Office (MGTO), due to administrative irregularities and failing to comply with fire safety requirements. The group says they have reported the case to the Public Prosecutions Office, according to a report by local public broadcaster Chinese TDM radio. A group convened by vice president of the Travel Industry Council of Macau, Wong Fai held a press conference yesterday. Mr. Wong said that about 30 travel agencies and individuals in Macau, Mainland China and Hong Kong had booked more than 700,000 hotel rooms at the hotel before its temporary closure, involving more than HK$250 million (MOP257.5 million/ US$32.24 million). “Based on their contracts with the hotel, about 700,000 hotel rooms were booked, but the capacity of the hotel is 599 rooms. Even if they open 365 days a year, the amount of rooms that were sold was ridiculous… we suspect fraud in the case,” Mr. Wong explained. Mr. Wong added that in mid-December of last year, some agencies were notified by the hotel of a halt to room supply. The claimed victim group has now requested the hotel to explain the situation and resolve this issue by paying them compensation accordingly.
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