Overview

A German tourist has been awarded almost €1,000 by a court in Hanover after he was unable to secure sunloungers for his family during a package holiday on the Greek island of Kos, because other guests repeatedly reserved them with towels.

The ruling, reported by the BBC and The Guardian, is being seen as a significant intervention in the long-running phenomenon of “towel wars”, where holidaymakers claim sunbeds by leaving towels on them early in the morning, often long before they intend to use them.

The case

The man, who has not been identified in most reports but was named by the Daily Mail as David Eggert, a pilot from Dusseldorf, paid €7,186 (£6,211) for the holiday for himself, his wife and their two children in 2024.

According to all three sources covering the story, he told the court that, despite rising at 06:00 each morning and spending 20 minutes a day searching, he was consistently unable to find available loungers. He added that his children were forced to lie on the floor because no other options were available.

His complaint centred on the assertion that neither the hotel nor the tour operator enforced the resort’s own rules banning towel reservations. He said staff did not confront guests who reserved loungers in this manner, and that many beds remained empty for hours while their owners were away.

The ruling

The tour operator initially offered a refund of €350 (£302), but the court determined that the family was entitled to €986.70 (£852.89), a figure that reflects the extent to which the holiday was considered “defective”.

The court acknowledged that the tour operator did not manage the hotel and could not guarantee each guest a sunbed at all times. However, it ruled that the operator had a responsibility to ensure there was an organisational structure in place to guarantee a “reasonable” ratio of sunbeds to guests, as reported by The Guardian and the BBC.

Legal website Legal Tribune Online, cited in The Guardian’s report, noted that the court’s decision was based on the specific circumstances of the case.

Industry reaction

The ruling has prompted wider commentary on the practice of reserving sunloungers, sometimes referred to as the “dawn dash” or, in German, “Handtuchkriege”. Some hotels are introducing stricter sunbed allocation rules to address what has been called “sunbed wars”, according to the BBC’s latest coverage.

Several tour operators are exploring ways to combat the issue. The BBC report mentions that some companies are offering the option to pre-book a spot beside the pool for an additional fee, a practice already offered by Thomas Cook, as noted in one report.

The man who won the case told the Daily Mail that he hoped the ruling would serve as a “warning” to tour operators and hotels that permit such behaviour.

Perspectives

  • Consumer angle: The decision empowers holidaymakers who have suffered from towel-blocking, providing legal precedent that package holiday operators may be held liable if they fail to ensure fair access to facilities.
  • Industry angle: Tour operators and hotels may face increased pressure to enforce existing rules or implement new systems, such as pre-booking, to avoid legal challenges. However, the ruling’s specific focus on the “organisational structure” may leave room for interpretation.