Chinese tourists have learned their lessons about the risks that come with some cheap or budget travel deals, which earned a reputation for trickery and forced spending following recent scandals, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Lei Min, a 29-year-old white-collar worker from Shaanxi Province, took a tour to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, on National Day holiday and was forced into a duty-free shop in Pixian County, along with other tourists on the one-day tour.
"They threatened not to let us go unless we bought the jewels they recommended, which cost thousands of yuan," Lei said in a report in Huashang Newspaper this week.
Lei and her companions were able to leave only when one of them spent more than 3,000 yuan on jewels, the newspaper said.
When the story reached the Chinese social media, netizens criticized the budget tours for misleading tourists.
"I would rather get lost in a city than join a guided low-cost tour," a netizen wrote on microblog Sina Weibo.
"How do you expect a shopping-free tour at such a low price?" said another. "Don't fall into cheap traps again!"
Last month, a Chinese mainland tourist, also on a budget group tour, died in Hong Kong after he was allegedly beaten by a gang of four men while mediating a shopping dispute.
According to report jointly issued on Tuesday, Nov. 3, by tourism website mafengwo.cn, news app Toutiao and the Bank of China, low-cost group tours are increasingly causing a strain on tourist experience in the country. The report was based on information taken from travel service searches, question-and-answer sessions between tourists and agencies, and comments from 600 million Chinese tourists over the past two years.
The report, however, said that despite the scandals, low-cost tours remain popular.
Dong Wei, president of Kangwei International Travel Agency in Qinghai Province, said that the popularity of budget tours is related to the attitudes of the tourists themselves, adding that the tough competition in the tourism market has pushed some agencies to offer budget tours to lure customers.
To guide the development of the tourism industry, the National Tourism Administration issued a directive to crack down on "unqualified cheap tours" in September, ordering that any tours priced 30 percent lower than official prices are considered illegal.
But although the government has taken action against cheap tours, more measures are still needed, Li Jie with Qige Law Firm in Qinghai said.
"I think there should be more specific standards about the definition of budget tours, so that the public has a clearer idea," Li said. "The government should also guide the public on how to avoid illegal low-cost tours."
Li called on all different government departments to work together and supervise the tourism market to ensure the strong and sustainable development of the industry.