Mar 10, 2010, 8:51 GMT
Hong Kong - A group of Filipino visitors stranded in Hong Kong as victims of a travel package hoax were Wednesday given free tours around the city.
Twenty-four Filipinos, most of them civil servants, were stranded at the city's international airport for six hours on Tuesday after the tour operator who was supposed to meet them failed to show.
Hong Kong Travel Industry Council executive director Joseph Tung said he believed their travel agent in the Philippines sold them a trip that supposedly included the hotel and tours but in fact only covered the flights.
The travel company that was supposed to collect the visitors in Hong Kong did not exist, Tung said, adding that was no local involvement in the scam.
Tourism companies in Hong Kong took pity on the Filipinos after learning of their plight, however, and arranged accommodation and free tours for them around the city.
The Philippines consulate in Hong Kong said it hoped to meet the tourists Wednesday evening to investigate the case further and to see if any follow-up action in the Philippines was necessary.
Hong Kong, a city of 7 million, welcomed almost 30 million visitors in 2009. It is home to around 140,000 Filipinos, for the most part employed as live-in maids.
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