German tourist wins payout after losing sun lounger race

A German tourist has won a payout of more than €900 (£850) after he was unable to secure a sun lounger due to other guests reserving them with towels.

The man, who has not been identified, was on holiday in Greece with his family in 2024, and said he spent 20 minutes a day trying to find a sun lounger, despite waking up at 06:00.

He then sued his tour operator for allowing the reservation system, arguing the sunbeds were reserved so often, they were unusable.

Judges at a district court in Hanover ruled in his favour, and said the family of four were entitled to a larger refund on their package holiday as it had been "defective".

The man had initially paid €7,186 (£6211) to take his wife and their two children on the package holiday to Kos, an island in Greece.

In his arguments to court, he said that his tour operator had failed to enforce the resort's ban on towel reserving, and did not confront guests who were engaging in the practice.

He added that even when his family rose at 06:00, loungers were unavailable, and his children were forced to lie on the floor.

Though the tour operator had initially paid out a refund of €350 (£302), judges in Hanover ruled the family was entitled to a refund of €986.70 (£852.89).

They said that although the travel company did not run the hotel and could not ensure every customer could access a sunbed at any given time, the operator did have an obligation to make sure there was an organisational structure that would guarantee a "reasonable" ratio of sunbeds to guests.

Many tourists will have encountered "sunbed wars" or "dawn dash" on holiday, which is the practice of reserving loungers with towels.

Last year, videos circulating on social media suggested holiday-goers in Tenerife were sleeping on sun loungers in order to secure a poolside spot.

Some tour companies are trying to combat the practice, with operator Thomas Cook offering tourists the option to pre-book a spot beside the pool for an additional fee.

In Spain, tourists in certain regions have been threatened with a €250 fine for reserving a sun lounger and then disappearing for hours.