“I am absolutely disgusted with TUI. We’ve holidayed with them for years, but I’ve said now, take me off your records. I want nothing to do with this company whatsoever.”
A British tourist was told to stay at home after returning from a £6,000 “disaster” TUI holiday with a bacterial infection.
Tony Wallace, 59, contracted salmonella during his 38th wedding anniversary holiday to Jamaica, he said. Weeks later, he was told by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to stop working and to stay at home to recover.
The infection was caused by the “awful” food at TUI’s all-inclusive resort in Nigrin, Jamaica – Sunset at the Palms – claimed Mr Wallace. The five-star adults-only retreat boasted “treetop rooms and tropical gardens”, and features a choice of buffet dining, a beach grill, and also a la carte restaurants.
But the Brit said “disgusting” food was served on “silver troughs”, and dinner was just reheated from the previous night’s meal. He claimed the offering was “pure filth”, and he also found a dead cockroach inside his room.
It comes after four Brits died while on TUI holidays in Cape Verde, leaving their devastated families searching for justice. Elena Walsh, 64, from Birmingham, Mark Ashley, from Bedfordshire, Karen Pooley, 64, from Gloucestershire, and a 56-year-old man died in the space of four months last year.
They are four of six Brits who have died in the nation since 2023, and among thousands who say they fell ill with debilitating gastric symptoms, including diarrhea, while visiting on holidays. Families of those six are now seeking damages from TUI, with which they had booked their holidays, and the tourism group has now broken its silence.
READ MORE: TUI in major update as 4 Brits die in Cape Verde with severe diarrhoea illnessREAD MORE: Inside the horror hotels where four Brits have died from stomach bugs in four months
Mr Wallace, from Portsmouth, travelled to Jamaica to celebrate his wedding anniversary with wife Alison, 57. They’d been saving up for the dream holiday for years, and finally headed to the Caribbean on June 20 last year.
“On the 1st of July I fell ill… and I mean seriously ill – like collapsing,” Mr Wallace told the Mirror. “It was just horrendous. It ruined the whole holiday.”
The couple were enjoying a day on the beach when he suddenly started feeling unwell, he said. “My wife looked at me and said ‘you look grey’, and I said I’ve got to go back to the room,” he said.
Mr Wallace had to be helped back to their hotel room, feeling dizzy with severe stomach pains, he said. “I sat on the toilet, put my head in my hands and I honestly thought I was going to faint,” he added. “I have never had an experience like it.”
He developed severe diarrhoea, dizziness, with sweat pouring off of him. It was “the most horrendous diarrhoea” anyone could imagine, he added.
Mr Wallace said they went to reception, and there were no medical facilities on the hotel site. The staff in the shop did offer him some Pepto-Bismol, or alternatively he could pay for a taxi to the hospital – but hotel staff didn’t recommend that because “it’s dangerous”.
“I was trying to seek medical help, and there was another lady there that was a nurse. She was advising me of what to do, just taking water and trying to look after yourself. I gained no help whatsoever, and I couldn’t even get hold of the TUI rep because the app was down and the rep wasn’t coming in.”
TUI’s website confirmed a dedicated holiday rep wouldn’t be staying on-site, but guests can get in touch with the company “around the clock” on its app and by phone.
The couple endured the rest of their holiday before eventually flying home. Mr Wallace said he had to tell TUI plane crew that he’d be in-and-out of the toilet every five minutes, just so they didn’t get suspicious.
He said: “You could imagine travelling back on a plane for 10 hours with horrendous stomach cramps. The staff were giving me Dioralyte tablets and plenty of water. We’d upgraded as well, because it was a special holiday, so we’ve lost out on all that.”
He went straight to A&E after arriving back home, and was eventually asked to provide a stool sample. His stomach was still incredibly painful, and he wasn’t eating or drinking properly.
“I got a phone call from Portsmouth City Council telling me to just stop working at once. I was sort of thinking, you know, ‘why or what’s going on?’.
“Then I got an email from the UKHSA to say that I’ve contracted salmonella on July 1 after eating in one of the hotel restaurants.”
Salmonella is a deadly bacterial infection that’s mainly contracted by eating or drinking contaminated food or water. Most patients develop painful diarrhoea, stomach pain, severe dehydration, and requires urgent medical attention.
Mr Wallace said he was “absolutely disgusted” with TUI after the holiday. The holiday provider refused to get him a refund, and suggested he take the case to court if he wanted to take it further, he claimed.
TUI told him that he could have picked up the infection anywhere, he claimed. The UKHSA pinpointed exactly when the infection started, which was on July 1 – when the couple were staying at the all-inclusive resort.
Mr Wallace said: “What more can you do when you’ve got photographic evidence and an email from the UKHSA? It’s all there in black and white.
“I am absolutely disgusted with TUI. We’ve holidayed with them for years, but I’ve said now, take me off your records. I want nothing to do with this company whatsoever.”
The Mirror has contacted TUI for comment.
