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Approaching May Day Labor Day, I think everyone has a little tiredness in their hearts because of the recurrence of the epidemic in the past three years, isolation, inter-provincial meltdown, etc., perhaps facing the first light of the morning light, climbing to the top of the mountain when the mountain flowers are full of flowers; with the light of the sun cooking smoke, picking a touch of slanting sun, watching a group of tired birds return to the nest. Then take advantage of the May Day holiday to go to the suburbs to see the distraction, camp with the family, feel the warm sun in late spring and the beauty of early summer is a good way to relax and adjust your mentality. Today, the author conducts a cursory discussion on the issue of travel agencies changing their travel itineraries without authorization.
Case 1: Travel agencies change the order of their itinerary
In 2019, the tourist Thrush signed a tourism contract with Travel Agency A, and Travel Agency A organized a group to go to Taiyuan - Wutai Mountain - Pingyao Ancient Town - Qiaojia Compound for six days and five nights, and paid a tour fee of 3,000 yuan to Travel Agency A. During the trip, the tour guide changed the itinerary to Taiyuan - Wutai Mountain - Qiaojia Courtyard - Pingyao Ancient Town without obtaining the consent of the tourists. After the end of the trip, the tourist Thrush complained to the tourism department that the travel agency A had changed the itinerary without authorization, and in this regard, the tourism authority fined the tour guide 5,000 yuan and temporarily withheld the tour guide card for one month.
Case 2: The travel agency designates a separate shopping store
In 2021, the tourist Cuckoo signed a tourism contract with Travel Agency B, and Travel Agency B organized a group to travel to Guizhou, Yunnan and other places and provided Cuckoo with a itinerary, which stipulated entering the shopping store, and the name of the shopping store, the time of stay, and the goods sold were all specified in detail. During the trip, the local Ministry of Culture and Tourism found during the inspection of a shopping store that the shopping store was not part of the shopping store indicated in the itinerary of travel agency B and was not in the tour contract, and the tour guide could not provide the tourist's signed consent to the "Itinerary Change Order".
—— Legal Analysis ——
Unauthorized change of itinerary from two aspects: unauthorized + change of itinerary
1. Unauthorized mainly refers to the act of changing the itinerary agreed in the tourism contract without the consent of the tourist and the reason for exemption from liability, and the administrative penalty will be as high as 300,000 yuan and the travel agency business license will be revoked.
2. Change the itinerary here for a broad explanation, that is, the change of specific attractions (such as change in order, increase and decrease in quantity, increase in play time, compression, etc. is inconsistent with the itinerary) and separately designated shopping stores (not in the tour contract or itinerary, the travel agency separately arranges the designated specific shopping places).
3. In the above case, the tour guide changed the order of the scenic spots and the travel agency took the tourists into another designated shopping store without the written consent of the tourist, which fully met the illegal constituent elements of changing the itinerary without authorization. However, although case two is a change in the itinerary in a broad sense, the penalty for another designated shopping store is heavier than the unauthorized change of itinerary, and there is a provision for the confiscation of illegal gains.
—— Legal basis ——
1. Paragraph 2 of Article 41 of the Tourism Law: "Tour guides and tour leaders shall strictly implement the travel itinerary arrangement, shall not change the tour itinerary or suspend service activities without authorization, shall not ask tourists for tips, and shall not induce, deceive, force or covertly force tourists to shop or participate in separately paid tourism projects." ”
2. Article 69 of the Tourism Law: "Travel agencies shall perform their obligations in accordance with the provisions of the package tour contract and shall not change the travel itinerary arrangement without authorization." ”
3. Article 100 of the Tourism Law: "If a travel agency violates the provisions of this Law and commits any of the following acts, the competent tourism department shall order corrections and impose a fine of between 30,000 and 300,000 yuan and order it to suspend business for rectification; if it causes serious consequences such as the suspension of tourists, revoke the business license of the travel agency; the directly responsible supervisors and other directly responsible personnel shall be fined not less than 2,000 yuan but not more than 20,000 yuan, and the tour guide card shall be temporarily withheld or revoked: (1) Unauthorized change of travel itinerary arrangements during the tour itinerary. Seriously harming the rights and interests of tourists;"
4. Paragraph 2 of Article 35 of the Tourism Law: "Travel agencies organizing and receiving tourists shall not designate specific shopping places or arrange separately paid tourism projects." However, unless it is agreed upon by both parties or requested by the tourist, and does not affect the itinerary of other tourists. ”
5. Article 98 of the Tourism Law: "Where a travel agency violates the provisions of Article 35 of this Law, the competent department of tourism shall order it to make corrections, confiscate the illegal gains, order it to suspend business for rectification, and impose a fine of not less than 30,000 yuan but not more than 300,000 yuan; if the illegal gains are more than 300,000 yuan, it shall be fined not less than one time but not more than five times the illegal gains; if the circumstances are serious, the travel agency business license shall be revoked; and the directly responsible supervisors and other directly responsible personnel shall confiscate the illegal gains and be fined not less than 2,000 yuan but not more than 20,000 yuan. And temporarily withhold or revoke the tour guide license. ”
6. Article 23 of the Measures for the Administration of Tour Guides: "Tour guides shall not engage in the following acts in the course of practicing: (2) changing the tour itinerary or refusing to perform the tour contract without authorization; (3) arranging shopping activities or paying separately for tourism projects without authorization;"
7. Article 13 of the "Regulations on the Management of Tour Guide Personnel": "Tour guide personnel shall arrange the travel and excursion activities of tourists in strict accordance with the reception plan determined by the travel agency, and shall not increase or decrease tourism projects or suspend tour guide activities without authorization." ”
8. Article 22 of the "Regulations on the Management of Tour Guide Personnel": "In any of the following circumstances, the tourism administrative department shall order corrections and temporarily withhold the tour guide card for 3 to 6 months; if the circumstances are serious, the tourism administrative department of the people's government of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government shall revoke the tour guide license and make a public announcement: (1) increase or decrease the number of tourism projects without authorization; (2) change the reception plan without authorization; (3) suspend the tour guide activities without authorization." ”
—— One example and three examples ——
1. Does the travel agency have the right to change the itinerary?
According to the Tourism Law, travel agencies providing tourism services to tourists should sign a travel contract, especially a package tour contract, and the itinerary is a necessary part. Accordingly, the two parties shall strictly perform their obligations in accordance with the contents of the contract, that is, the travel agency shall provide services in strict accordance with the contents of the itinerary and shall not change the itinerary without authorization, otherwise, the travel agency shall breach the contract. According to the Provisions of the Tourism Law, the law clearly stipulates that travel agencies are not allowed to change their itinerary without authorization, otherwise, it is an illegal act. According to the Provisions of the Civil Code and the Tourism Law, the purpose of the contract cannot be realized due to force majeure and other reasons, that is, the itinerary cannot be continued as originally scheduled, and the travel agency may change it within a reasonable range.
2. Under what circumstances can I change my travel itinerary?
If the purpose of the contract cannot be fully performed due to force majeure events (government levies, social public health emergencies, earthquakes, etc.) or events that cannot be avoided after fulfilling reasonable obligations (such as delay or cancellation of public transportation such as airplanes, trains, temporary closure of scenic spots, etc.), the purpose of the contract cannot be realized, the travel agency explains to the tourist that the change can be made within a reasonable range, and the tourist can terminate the contract if he does not agree to the change. Since the two sides have agreed to change the travel itinerary by consensus, the travel agency can of course change the travel itinerary.
3. What problems should be paid attention to when changing the itinerary?
Mainly pay attention to the evidence of the change of itinerary caused by the consensus of the two parties, it is recommended to negotiate the change in writing, that is, the two parties sign a consensus agreement, if it is impossible to obtain a written agreement, the proposed audio and video recording. If the itinerary changes due to force majeure or unexpected events, it must be explained to the tourist and notified to the tourist in writing to let the other party know.
Finally, the author hereby appeals to the majority of tourism practitioners to be cautious about the issue of itinerary change, and for the issue of itinerary change, it is possible not to change as much as possible, especially if the itinerary is changed without authorization, it must be avoided as much as possible. The majority of tourism practitioners should also strictly abide by the spirit of the contract, and the consent of tourists should be obtained in writing for changes to the agreed itinerary. Unauthorized change of travel itinerary, such as case one is only to change the order of the problem but there will still be corresponding penalties, that is, the practitioners must not be "unauthorized", not only in the content must not be unauthorized, but also in the form must not be unauthorized, the essence of which is to require the travel agency to strictly abide by the itinerary agreed in the travel contract to provide tourism services in accordance with the principle of good faith, including play time, such as compressing the play time and increasing the shopping time into the store, even if the number of trips has not changed, it is also a breach of contract.
In practice, travel agencies often bear high fines and compensation liabilities for unauthorized changes to the itinerary. It should be noted that if the itinerary is changed without authorization, the loss of personal and property safety of tourists will also be an important factor in increasing the liability of travel agencies. Therefore, travel agencies should strengthen the training of tour guides or tour leaders, establish a sound supervision and tracking system, and first aid measures to deal with emergencies, and other details, and only in this way can enterprises go to a higher level.