Heads will roll if Bali agents, guides don’t conform
DENPASAR – Tourism authorities continue to search for ways to crackdown on cheap and not-so-cheerful tours for Chinese travellers.
Tourism New Zealand announced last week that it would “mystery shop†these tours to ensure Chinese visitors to New Zealand were getting what they paid for in terms of accommodation, transport and tours.
Now Bali Update (www.balidiscovery.com) – quoting local sources – reports that the China National Tourism Authority (CNTA) has called on Indonesia to stop the practice of “selling heads” among Chinese tourists visiting the country.
“Selling Heads” is the practice in which the right to guide visiting Chinese tourists is purchased by travel agents and guides who then recoup their investment through often exorbitant commissions received from restaurants and shops.
Eddy Sunyoto, the chairman for promotion and marketing for the Indonesia Association of Travel Agents (ASITA), told the media that the CNTA has called on law enforcement officials and the government of Indonesia to end the practice seen as detrimental to the interests and the overall holiday experience of Chinese holidaymakers.
The government of China recently passed a consumer protection law.
Part of that legislation seeks to curb the practice of “head selling” that sees Chinese tourists “pushed” to undertake numerous activities, such as shopping, spas, rafting and other transactions forced upon them by avaricious guides.
Sunyoto admitted that a number of registered travel agents are actively engaged in “selling heads” when serving Chinese travelers.
Meanwhile, the chief of tourism for the province of Bali, Kade Subhisku, threatened that he will show “no mercy” for companies engaging in “selling heads.”
Subhisku has held meetings with the Indonesian Guide Association (HPI) and ASITA to curb the practices of illegal guides.
Ian Jarrett
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