Beijing website lists people, companies with poor credit

People with poor social credit records - including bad behavior or refusing to pay debts - will be barred from booking rooms at star-rated hotels or taking part in high-cost group tours in Beijing, the municipal tourism authority said.

The Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development launched a website called "Credit Beijing" on Tuesday, which collects the credit records of tourists and people working in the industry in Beijing.

The platform covers 44,690 tour guides, 2,672 travel agencies, 281 attractions and 559 star-rated hotels in Beijing, according to a news release posted on the commission's social media account.

Users can check the records of tour guides and travel agencies in the city, a move that aims to help consumers avoid unscrupulous behavior by a particular guide or travel agency.

Tourists exhibiting uncivilized behavior, such as scribbling graffiti or making noise at tourist attractions, will also be recorded on the platform.

Those with poor credit records - as well as people blacklisted in other sectors, including defaulters who fail to pay court judgments and violators of air and rail transport rules - "will all be banned from staying in star-rated hotels in Beijing or joining high-cost group tours", an unnamed official was quoted saying in the news release.

"The commission has signed memorandums of understanding with the civil affairs, transportation, customs and tax administration departments of the city ... to ensure the implementation of punishment for the dishonest," the official said. "It will help better regulate the tourism market and protect tourists' rights, which will also help support a good commercial environment in Beijing."

The measure is one of the latest moves in an ongoing campaign to improve behavior, toughen sanctions on wrongdoers and enhance integrity and credibility.

Previously, people on the government's blacklist for dishonesty have been banned from all air and railway travel.