A local court ordered a Shanghai woman to pay 95,000 yuan ($15,211) in compensation to a travel company for delaying a 26-member tour group's trip to Vietnam by holding their passports hostage, local media reported Sunday.
The woman, surnamed Hou, and a friend booked the five-day tour through the travel website Ctrip.com in July 2011, the Shanghai Morning Post reported.
However, Hou's plans were dashed this September when the group's guide discovered that she hadn't applied for the necessary tourist visa as they waited to check in at Shanghai Pudong International Airport.
Hou was livid because she had expected Ctrip to apply for the visa on her behalf.
In her anger, she snatched the group's passports from the guide and refused to give them back, according to the report. Despite words from the guide, airline staff and other tour group members, she held onto the passports until a police officer arrived.
By that time, the group's plane had already departed, stranding them at the airport.
In its lawsuit, Ctrip demanded that Hou pay the company about 95,000 yuan to cover the losses it incurred rearranging the other tourists' flights, including food, lodging and other costs.
In court, Hou acknowledged that she had told Ctrip that her friend didn't need the company's help applying for the visa, but she never excused them from applying for her own visa, according to the report.
Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Court determined that Hou was responsible for delaying the other tourists' trip.
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