Iceland 'Luxury' Tour Turns to Nightmare for Shanghai Visitor

A Shanghai resident's highly anticipated luxury small-group tour to Iceland, booked through a Xiaohongshu advertisement, turned into a logistical nightmare featuring last-minute changes, broken promises, and baffling customer service, Shanghai Television reported on Wednesday.

The consumer, a woman surnamed Wang, was captivated last November by an enticing social media post promoting a premium seven-day, six-night Iceland tour. After contacting the promoter via WeChat, she signed a contract and paid half of the total fee, 13,999 yuan(US$2010), as a deposit for a January 2 departure.

Troubles began after payment: For over a month, there was no communication. Only after Wang inquired three days before departure did she receive "travel documents," which consisted merely of a bus ticket from the airport and its instructions. The promoter claimed the private pick-up service had been canceled "because you were alone, not a group of four," and offered a refund on January 1, the day before her arrival in Iceland.

With little choice, Wang proceeded. Upon landing, she discovered the "premium small group" was in fact a patchwork of groups assembled daily, with different guides and tourists each day. Her itinerary had essentially been resold to various local one-day tour operators. "Even when I stayed in the same hotel for two nights, I had to check out and back in," she lamented.

The contract stipulated cancellation with five days' notice if the group size wasn't met — a clause Wang says was ignored. "I ended up alone every day. I paid for a premium small group but got a disorganized solo trip," she stated.

Seeking recourse after returning proved futile. The contracting company lists its address in the United Kingdom, with disputes subject to British law. The Shanghai-based company that received her payment shares a domestic address with the UK entity, but a visit by reporters found a different company's nameplate at the registered location. Attempts to contact the legal representative were unsuccessful.

Consumer hotlines 12315 and 12345 declined to investigate, stating the matter fell outside their jurisdiction — either for tourism authorities or deemed unactionable as the company isn't licensed for tourism.

The case highlights a growing issue: unregulated travel promotions on social platforms. A local lawmaker has urged clearer regulatory responsibility for such "online bait-and-switch" services and called on platforms like Xiaohongshu to better monitor and restrict deceptive promotional content that misleads and entraps consumers.