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New Rules to Clean up Tourism Market
China is poised to crackdown on illegal activities in the nation's tourism industry, said senior officials with the industry.
"A new set of regulatory rules governing the sector will be implemented before the end of this year," said Yang Wenzhen, director of the tour promotion and international communication department under the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).
Speaking at the ITE Hong Kong 2000, one of the largest tourism fairs in Asia held here last week, Yang said more Western countries would be added to the list of outbound destination countries by CNTA as China enters the WTO.
So far, 15 countries and regions, including Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Macao and most of the South East Asian nations have been approved as outbound tour destinations for Chinese tourists.
Under the new rules, the number of the travel agents franchised by CNTA to deal with outbound services would increase significantly next year.
Detailed numbers are not available at this time.But Wang Suqi, deputy general manager of the Beijing-based China International Travel Service (CITS),believes that the number could expand to more than 200 to 300 , compared with the present 67.
Wang told China Daily that travel agents accused of unfair competition or offering fraudulent services could be driven out of the business under the new regulations.
China's tourism industry has witnessed rapid growth as the nation continues its business upswing of the 1990s.
China's inbound tourism market increased 14.7 per cent to more than 72.79 million in 1999, compared with 1998 figures. That number also grew by 15 per cent to 26.64 million in the first four months this year.There are more than 6,000 travel agents in the nation.
However, overheated growth and fierce competition in the industry has often resulted in bitter complaints by customers.
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