A German tourist has won a court-ordered refund of nearly €987 after suing his tour operator over the towel-reserving culture at a Greek island resort that left his family unable to secure sun loungers despite waking at 6 a.m. every day of their holiday.
The man, who has not been identified, traveled with his wife and two children to the island of Kos in 2024 on a package holiday that cost €7,186.
He told the district court in Hanover that he spent up to 20 minutes each morning searching for available loungers, but found them consistently reserved with towels placed there by other guests before dawn. On some occasions, his children were forced to lie on the floor.
The man argued that his tour operator had failed to enforce the resort's own ban on towel reserving and took no action against guests who routinely violated it.
Judges agreed, ruling the holiday had been "defective" and that the family of four was entitled to a larger refund than the €350 the operator had initially offered.
The court awarded €986.70.
The ruling is likely to reverberate across the European package holiday industry, where the so-called towel war — the practice of claiming prime pool-side spots with unattended towels for hours or entire days — has long been a source of friction at Mediterranean resorts.
For Greece, which is on course for a record tourism year and is actively pursuing higher-spending visitors, the case is an unwelcome reminder that resort experience quality remains a vulnerability in its tourism proposition.