A tourist looks at a flower in China's International Horticulture Exhibition in Kunming, capital of southwest Yunnan Province. (Photo : Reuters)
In an effort to protect tourists from con artists and other criminals, five new police units have been formed in Yunnan Province in Southwest China, as reported by China Daily.
The new units are tasked to provide security cover in key tourist towns like Dali, Kunming and Lijiang. They will also be processing complaints from the public regarding fraud, unlicensed guides and ticket scalpers.
The local government hopes that the effort will bring order to the chaotic tourism market of the province.
The addition of the police units is a possible reaction to the release of a short video that went viral on social media, showing a tour guide in Xishuangbanna complaining about the lack of spending in known tourist areas.
The unknown woman in the video called nearby tourists "miserly," saying they should be ashamed for not spending more money and threatening to prevent their departure if they exposed her behavior.
Wen Shuqiong, the deputy director of Yunnan Tourism Development and Reform Commission, said that Yunnan implemented several measures "to protect tourists' rights in the past year, such as limiting shopping time to under 90 minutes per day."
Forced shopping was actually one of the reasons why China's first tourist police unit was put up in Sanya, Hainan, which is another city notorious for overpriced food and rude tour guides.
To date, tourist police in Sanya have investigated 81 public security cases. They have also detained 86 people and detected a criminal case.
"Tourist police have the right to enforce the law. The process of dealing with tourists' complaints has been streamlined and those who want to make illegal profits by setting traps for unsuspecting tourists have been effectively frightened off," said Yue Jin, Sanya' vice mayor.
Li Jinzao, director of the China National Tourism Administration, spoke about the importance of protecting tourists before they become victims.
"Many places in China have invested huge amounts of money into marketing and advertising to attract tourists," said Li. "This is important, but a scandal could ruin all the good effort that has been put in, especially if the local tourism market is not orderly."
Li also said that the local government must adjust its management policies to better protect tourists.
"We used to focus on scenic spots. However, tourists do not stay in one spot forever. In order to regulate the tourism market, the local government needs to get out of this 'scenic spot' way of thinking and regulate the whole city's public order," said Li.
