Travel Bound: Can China’s New Tourism Laws Truly Reform the Industry?

Chinese tourists may have a bad reputation for defacing ancient monuments, abusing native wildlife and other generally boorish behavior, but when it comes to unsavory practices, the country’s tourist agencies give their unruly customers a run for their money.

Some of the biggest culprits are the “zero-dollar tour operators” – so-named because they price their trips so low they are basically free … that is, until you factor in the non-stop shopping trips, terrible meals, crappy hotels and extra fees for “side attractions.”

Fights and arguments between guides and customers are not uncommon and in one instance a tour guide even attacked his customers for not spending enough at places from which he was getting kickbacks.

The problem has gotten so out of hand that the government has been obliged to step in. Starting on Oct 1, tour organizers who abuse their customers, add on extra charges, “lure customers through rebates and unreasonable deals,” accept tips and change itineraries without giving due notice (among a long list of other infractions) to their customers will be subject to fines and the possible revocation of their business license.

These new laws are unprecedented and have been a long time coming, but as good as it all sounds details, particularly of how to file complaints and general enforcement, are still murky.

With the October holiday just weeks away the only thing that seems clear is an overall increase in prices for post-October holiday trips – agencies are simply increasing the cost of their tour packages to make up for the lost extra revenue, and as a result September trips have reportedly been fully booked up by travelers anticipating the higher fees that will inevitably kick in once the law goes into effect.

Keep reading on agendabeijing.com.

Photo: Shreyans Bhansali