ATEC says laws needed to stop rogue tour operators
An enquiry has heard that The Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) says that a national approach was needed to stop rogue operators who bring in busloads of Asian tourists to Australia for holidays designed to empty their wallets, which is damaging Australia’s image and reputation in particular China , Taiwan and Korea.
ATEC MD Matt Hingerty said, “There are some very dodgy people involved in this, particularly in Sydney,” “They are not doing it for the broad betterment of the Australian tourism industry or for their customers, they treat people as a commodity.”
Mr Hingerty said trips sold as a dream holiday to Asian holidaymakers turned into a succession of outer suburban hotels, long hours on dodgy buses, next to zero free time, forced shopping trips and inflated prices.
The tourists were “herded” into warehouses and stores that pay kickbacks to the rogue operators, Mr Hingerty said, and they catch only a glimpse of Australia’s top tourist sites.
He said the practice emerged years ago in Queensland but a crackdown in that state caused the rogue operators, who are often based overseas, to shift their focus to NSW.
“They will shop around jurisdictions to find the weakest regulatory regime, and the weakest enforcement regime, and they take their people there,” he said.
“That’s why we believe a national approach, a complimentary regulatory regime from the states, possibly based on the Queensland model, and involvement from the Commonwealth.”
The House of Representatives Economics, Finance and Public Administration Committee that sat in Melbourne yesterday will release its report on rogue tourism operators by June.
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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