Cheap tricks cheat tourists

A female resident from Huaian, Jiangsu Province has reported a Beijing-based travel agency to her local travel authorities for possible false advertising over suspiciously cheap tours to the capital.

In order to offer such low prices, the tour operator may be involved in questionable practices to cheat tourists, such as forced shopping, an employee of the Huaian tourism quality supervision administration in Jiangsu Province, surnamed Chen, told the Global Times Thursday.　

The woman submitted the complaint to the Huaian administration last week, said Chen, who did not reveal the complainant's name.

"The resident was dubious when she was given information about a tour to Beijing, so she came to us to inquire about it," he said, adding the woman did not book a place on the trip.

The woman was quoted a price of 200 yuan ($32) for a three-day package tour, or 300 yuan for a five-day tour to Beijing. As these prices included almost all tour costs, including entrance tickets, transport and accommodation, they decided to examine whether the trip included illegal practices, such as forced shopping stops, said Chen.　

"We're investigating this now, but we haven't established if the agency is involved in cheating tourists," he said.

As the travel agency is Beijing-based, cooperation with the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development would be needed, said Chen. He would not reveal the agency's name.

"This is the first time I've encountered a case concerning illegal tours," he said, adding that these practices are not common in Huaian where the travel industry is well-organized.

A media officer from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development, surnamed Song, said while he is unaware of the woman's complaint, tourists should be suspicious of any tours that seem far too cheap.

This often means forced shopping stops during the day's sightseeing, Song told the Global Times.　

"People always like to go for a low price and then complain if they get cheated," he said.　

At present, said Song, there is no law that punishes travel agencies for sharp practices, such as forced shopping.

However, according to the Beijing News, a new tourism draft law was submitted to the government for approval in August. The draft states that if travel agencies force tourists to buy goods, they will face a penalty of up to 200,000 yuan ($31,746).

Thousands of postings on Sina microblogs could be found in connection with people's bad experiences of taking cheap day tours.

College student Huang Nannan, from Guangdong Province, said she and a friend were approached by a group of strangers handing out flyers at Beijing Railway Station.

"A man came to ask if we were interested in day trips to the Great Wall and Ming Tombs for just 100 yuan," she said.

Huang said that she and her friend thought it was a good deal since the tour included tickets, transport, lunch and tour guide services.

However, when they were on the way to the Great Wall, the guide demanded an extra 50 yuan for ticket fees.

"They threatened us that if we didn't pay up, they wouldn't take us anywhere," she said. Huang said that they were later taken to a jade store, which took hours of their time.

Before the October 1 National Day holiday, Beijing Consumer Association (BCA) issued a warning to tourists to watch out for shady tour operators.

Forced shopping stops, illegal guides and agencies and bad service are common complaints, the BCA told the Global Times.

Zhang Lun, media officer of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of City Administration and Law Enforcement, told the Global Times that stamping out illegal tours requires the cooperative law enforcement of many government organizations.

"The Beijing tourism commission is the lead organization whenever there is a crackdown on unauthorized tours, and we cooperate with them," she said.

Those who spread false advertising will be punished, she said, although she did not specify what that would be.