Shanghai travel agencies have been ordered to cancel unqualified tour packages in China aimed at making money off tourists by forcing them to shop during trips, the city's tourism bureau said, after announcing that a prestigious agency had been caught violating the rules.
The call came after authorities discovered a class-A travel agency, China International Travel Service's Shanghai office, offering tour packages to Hong Kong for less than 3,000 yuan ($474), a low price it was able to offer by making up profits from deals with vendors at prearranged shopping sites.
The agency has since been ordered to cancel such packages, and until then, the company is prohibited from selling Hong Kong tours, Huang Guangrong, secretary-general of Shanghai Tourism Trade Association, which is working together on the measure with the city's tourism authorities, said Sunday.
He added that other agencies have also been told to remove unqualified "shopping tours," which are defined by local tourism authorities as days-long package tours featuring shopping excursions in Hong Kong or Macao for a total cost of less than 3,000 yuan per person.
But, at least one prestigious agency was still selling packages to Hong Kong for as low as 2,380 yuan Sunday.
An unidentified travel consultant for China Travel International's Shanghai office told the Global Times, however, that the agency had no plans to cancel the trip with prearranged shopping outings.
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