While a festive trip to Father Christmas’ traditional home of Lapland in Finland might rank highly on most children’s Christmas wishlists, the prospect of a cosy winter wonderland proved too good to be true for a gaggle of families booked onto a package airline holiday.
Armed with excited young children, parents said they arrived on the £4,000 TUI trip to Kuusamo to find no snow, a raft of “disastrous and dangerous” activities and “angry reindeer” – not quite the relaxing retreat they might have expected.
Add to that a grumpy Father Christmas who told the youngsters that he didn’t actually live there and a lacklustre Christmas feast, and families were left regretting shelling out for the so-called “trip of a lifetime”.
To be fair to TUI, unseasonably warm temperatures had been the main reason behind a lack of snow, and the company cancelled a series of other planned trips last week.
For these travellers, though, it was too little too late, and they had already reached the end of a 1,500-mile journey when they were met with the harsh reality of their situation.
“My little girl met Santa and she was really upset,” Ricky Edwards, 39, a dad-of-three from East London told The Sun.
“She turned to me and said, ‘I don’t believe that is the real Santa’. When we met him, he said, ‘I don’t even live here. This is my holiday home’.”
To break the spell even further, Mrs Claus also reportedly had a mobile phone visible in her pocket.
And families complained of being turned away from the laid-on Christmas dinner because not enough food had been provided – leaving them hungry and out in the cold.
“We got turned away and were left in minus eight degrees to get a coach back to the hotel,” Ricky said. “At least ten of the kids were in tears.”
Another couple from Northampton alleged that they had been put in danger while on a sleigh ride with their two children – telling the newspaper they were launched onto the ice on a lake that was melting.
“We had to stay right on the edge of the lake. I was genuinely terrified,” Natasha Walden, 36, said. “I could see cracks all over [it].”
Ms Walden added that her children weren’t allowed to touch a reindeer tied up to a nearby tree because “we were told he was angry”.
TUI told The Sun that snow had been predicted during the travel dates but “sadly” the forecasts had been incorrect. They also said they would be in contact with the customers about the experience “to discuss their concerns and offer a resolution”.
The Express has contacted TUI for comment.
