Tourism law makes holidays more expensive

As the Golden Week Holiday in early October fast approaches, some legal changes are coming into action. China will start implementing its first tourism law on October 1st. Travel agencies will be required to demonstrate more price transparency, stating clearly what they are charging and what.s not included in tour packages. However, the number of people signing up for tour packages seems to be falling.

Just two weeks away from the National Day Holiday, here at a park in Shanghai, more than 20 travel agencies have gathered to promote their tour packages, warming up for the holiday season. However, many people have just come to learn more about a new tourism law rather than make plans for their holidays.

Since the new tourism law forbids additional fees and forced goods purchases arranged by travel agencies, tour package prices have gone up by an average of 20 percent. The rising prices, plus the potential travellers who have decided to wait, has meant that tourist flow has suffered a downfall of about 20 percent compared to the same period last year.

"Many customers ask straight away if we have any special offers. Maybe it will take some time for them to adapt to the situation because of the new law," said travel agent He Yiwei.

Before, small travel agencies often ran gimmicks that lured tourists in and slapped hidden charges on unsuspecting tourists once they'd signed up. When the new tourism law takes effect, such practices will be strictly monitored and punished to ensure the best interests of travellers.

"In the future we will be strengthening our supervision of service quality. In addition, we'll be focusing more on prevention of malpractice in the tourist industry," said Zhu Yihong, deputy director of Shanghai Supervisory Bureau of Tourism Quality.

According to the tourism bureau, tour package prices now are actually within a normal price range as the agency's grey income has been removed from the list. Many travel agencies have already redesigned their tour packages in compliance with the new law and for the past two months, complaints about travel services have declined by 5 percent.

Now, local tourism bureaus and industrial and commercial bureaus are revising new tourism contract forms to be released before October 1st.