Read the prompts
The phenomenon of compulsory shopping consumption by tour guides has frequently appeared, low-cost tour groups have been used as bait, and a chain of interests has been formed between shopping stores, travel agencies, tour guides and drivers. From a deeper perspective, the industrial structure, employment mode and regulatory mechanism of the tourism market are also influencing factors.
A few days ago, a video of "the tour guide did not check in because he didn't buy anything" caused heated discussions. The publisher said that because he did not buy anything during the tour, on a hot day, the tour guide asked tourists to wait outside the hotel for a few hours before checking in. Many netizens said: "Whether to buy or not is your own business, and you should not be forced." ”
Since the summer, the popularity of tourism has continued to rise, and the phenomenon of forced shopping by tour guides has also occurred from time to time. Why is the compulsory shopping ban of tour guides repeated? How to improve the tourism market environment? The reporter conducted an investigation and interview.
The actual itinerary does not match the advertisement at the time of registration
"I went to 4 shopping points in 4 days, each shopping point is 2~3 hours, and I don't let me go if I don't have enough time." Ms. Peng, a tourist from Hunan Province, told reporters that on July 22, she and her friends signed up for an 8-day, 7-night tour for two in Yunnan, and when they registered, the other party said that there were only two shopping points in the whole process, and there was no mandatory consumption.
Ms. Peng asked the customer service of the travel agency: "Why was the attraction I should have visited a shopping store?" This does not match the itinerary introduced at the time of registration. The other party said: "The itinerary itself does not arrange unnecessary shopping, but different attractions will change different tour guides, and each tour guide will promote local characteristics, which is their personal behavior." ”
"The tour guide was tough and difficult to hear, and many people in our group were forced to buy things." On the 5th day of the trip, Ms. Peng, who felt pit and chose to leave the group.
In fact, Ms. Peng's experience is not unique. According to data released by the China Consumers Association on August 2, in the first half of 2023, tourism complaints increased significantly, among which the problem of forced sales and forced shopping by tour guides has repeatedly appeared.
On August 14, the Bureau of Culture, Tourism, Radio, Film and Television of Baotou City, Inner Mongolia, issued a circular to punish Inner Mongolia Guangming Travel Agency for violations of the law. About 1 month ago, Mr. Zhang, a tourist, signed up for a 5-day, 4-night group tour of Inner Mongolia at Inner Mongolia Guangming Travel Agency. However, not only was the actual experience poor, but the purported pure play tour also turned into a shopping trip in the last two days of the trip.
In addition, Mr. Zhang was subjected to forced consumption. "I recommend delicious specialties to you, don't buy them anywhere else." Mr. Zhang, who bought special products elsewhere, was scolded by the tour guide. In the end, he bought a bag of beef jerky from the tour guide for another 200 yuan.
There is a chain of interests in shopping stores, travel agencies, tour guides, etc
The reporter's interview found that the phenomenon of forced sales and forced shopping by tour guides mostly occurs in low-priced tour groups. The hot spots of consumer rights protection released by the China Consumers Association in the first half of this year also show that the consumer rights protection problems involved in forced shopping by low-price groups are more prominent.
"The price of the 8 days and 7 nights double tour is 1680 yuan, and I was confused at that time, why is it so cheap? The customer service explained that it was a government support project with subsidies, and now it was known that it was deceiving consumers. When Ms. Peng was watching the Yunnan tourism live broadcast, the customer service took the initiative to contact her and recommended the tourism project. Considering the rich itinerary and favorable price, Ms. Peng placed an order.
Mou Jiaqi, the relevant person in charge of CYTS Aoyou Technology Development Co., Ltd., said that low-priced group products often package tourist attractions and hotels well, but deliberately hide shopping stores, and it is difficult for tourists who are not familiar with the destination to distinguish the quality of the products.
Li Li (pseudonym), who has been working in the tourism industry for more than 10 years, told reporters that forced shopping is not a new thing, and it has not been cured, and the reason is still the problem of interest chains. "There is a chain of interests between shopping stores, travel agencies, tour guides, and drivers, shopping stores need travel agencies to solicit customers, travel agencies attract tourists in the way of low-cost groups, and to make profits, you have to find ways to let tourists consume."
Li Li said that as one of the links, tour guides must complete the tasks assigned to them by travel agencies, and how much the group consumes determines how much income the tour guide can get, and it is difficult for poor performance to survive. "Many tour guides do not have a basic salary, mainly rely on tour fees, and the product itself is a loss of money, and can only be consumed through shopping. In addition, some travel agencies do not care about the quality of tour guides, only about whether they can generate income, and some black tour guides do not even have a tour guide card. ”
Wei Xiang, a researcher at the Institute of Financial Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that the repeated prohibition of forced shopping is caused by various factors such as the current tourism market industrial structure, business model, and regulatory mechanism. "The current tourism model is mainly based on sightseeing at scenic spots, and has not changed into a leisure vacation model. In the off-season, tour guides cannot work on a regular basis, so they are all irregular employment, and travel agencies manage them loosely. ”
Wei Xiang also pointed out that the low barriers to entry of travel agencies have led to many small travel agencies having speculative psychology and only making one-time transactions for tourists, resulting in chaos such as low-cost tours and forced shopping. In addition, the low cost of breaking the law, even if the business license is revoked, it can be revived, which is also an important reason.
Strengthen the supervision of small and medium-sized travel agencies and transform the employment model
"The way that low-price groups deceive consumers and reduce costs is not healthy competition in the market, but bad money drives out good money, resulting in market chaos, so it must be combated." Wei Xiang said.
Recently, the Cultural Market Comprehensive Law Enforcement Supervision Bureau of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a notice deciding to carry out a 100-day campaign to rectify the order of the tourism market from July 24 to October 31. Not long ago, the Yunnan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, together with the public security and transportation departments, organized market inspections throughout the province to strictly investigate and deal with travel agencies and tour guides designated shopping and unauthorized changes to itineraries.
Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Research Institute, said that the determination of relevant departments to control tourism chaos will deter travel agencies and related enterprises within a certain period of time. However, in the long run, the improvement of the tourism market environment requires the joint efforts of multiple departments, jump out of the group travel model, establish a tourism service system for individual tourists, and promote the sharing of individual passenger services.
In Wei Xiang's view, the difficulty of rectification lies in source management, rather than post-event supervision and punishment. He suggested raising the entry and exit barriers for small and medium-sized travel agencies, monitoring their operating cycles and carrying out dynamic management, and increasing the collection of deposits for some "zombie enterprises" to avoid the low cost of violations. At the same time, it is necessary to change the employment model, include the tour guide commission system in the discussion, so that it has no incentive to force shopping, and use digital means to strengthen the management and supervision of practitioners, not only to ensure personal privacy, but also to ensure the objectivity and openness of services. In addition, attention should also be paid to the education of tourists, especially the elderly, to help them enhance their awareness of tourism safety.
Source: Daily Worker