Hainan to outlaw zero-fee tours
HAINAN – China’s Hainan Provincial Tourism Bureau is the latest organisation to outlaw “zero-fee tour packages”.
Tourists on these packages are often forced to buy souveniers and make other large monetary purchases so that the travel agents can recoup their money..
Hainan Tourism Bureau will focus on cracking down on illegal travel service providers, false advertisements on travel services and unclear prices.
Tour guides will be banned from taking commissions or tips from tourists.
Tourism authorities in the region are keen to stamp out the practice.
The Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) managing director Matthew Hingerty said while most Australian-based inbound tour operators working the China market were legitimate, the actions of a few bad apples had the potential to affect the entire market.
“The China market, while growing quickly, is still relatively immature and if Chinese visitors, who are often on their first overseas trip, go home and tell their friends and family they had a bad experience and Australia is not a good place to visit, the entire industry suffers for it.”
In an incident earlier this year, a tour guide at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport was caught in the act of cheating his Chinese customers by using fraudulent Tourism Authority of Thailand documents listing obscene girlie shows as non-optional tours.
Other extreme examples have included tour operators in Australia asking Asian tourists to pay to walk on Sydney’s Bondi beach,
Thailand Minister of Tourism and Sports, Suvit Yodman, has been vigorous in attempting to stamp out zero-commission tours.
The Thai and Chinese governments have an accord to set up a list of each country’s certified travel agencies which are registered to send and receive Chinese tourists, but Suvit says problems arise when tourists deal with companies not on the list.
The Hong Kong Consumer Association said a highly competitive market in China has led to tour operators fiercely undercutting competitors or, in some instances, even paying travel agents for the right to “buy” tourist groups.
Recent incidents in Hong Kong in which Chinese tourists claimed they were fleeced persuaded tourism authorities in the SAR that they needed to offer more protection to gullible tourists or risk a backlash by visitors.
Ian Jarrett
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