Just over 10 percent of the city's 1,200 authorized travel agencies have been given a class-A ranking in terms of their service, in the city's first attempt of its kind to recognize quality agencies to better regulate the industry, local tourism authorities said Tuesday.
Among the 160 agencies that received the top ranking, eight of them were put in the 5A category - the highest of the class-A ranking - while 28 made the second-highest cut, 4A. The remaining 124 agencies were grouped in the lowest of the highest-standing, in the 3A category.
The 5A agencies included popular travel agencies, Shanghai China International Travel Service, China Youth Travel Service Shanghai, Shanghai Jinjiang International Travel, Shanghai Spring International Travel Service, SH-holiday and Ctrip. The agencies qualified after carrying out all travel agreements with clients last year, upholding service standards and omitting mandatory shopping excursions during organized trips, the city's official microblog said Tuesday.
Yang Fan, an official from the city's tourism authority, in charge of the measure, said that the practice of ranking travel agencies will be kept in place to help agencies improve services to gain higher ratings and attract more customers.
The agencies were graded by industry professionals, based on several criteria, including the agency's location, the scale of services offered and reviews from customers.
Local travel agencies that have operated for at least two years without safety-related accidents can apply for the ranking, but are subject to unannounced checks and a reassessment after three years.
Along with Beijing, the city decided to rank travel agencies last year, after Henan and Jiangsu provinces began similar practices in 2007 and 2011, respectively.
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