China’s Ambassador to Thailand has called for more action against travel agencies that continue to sell so-called ‘zero-fare tours’ which have attracted widespread criticism.
Both China and Thailand have started to crack down on the practice but unscrupulous agents are still operating the tours, Ambassador Ning Fukui said.
Zero fare tours are targeted at inbound Chinese visitors and sold at below cost but tourists are forced to purchase goods or heavily tip tour guides during their tours.
The Ambassador says the Chinese Embassy in Thailand has started to forward a list of travel agencies which have attracted complaints from Chinese visitors to Thailand tourism leaders and has proposed that companies which continue selling scam tours are blacklisted.
Zero fare tours have been part of the Chinese tourism trade for many years both in China and destinations such as Hong Kong and Singapore.
Last month a female tour guide in Kunming, China was banned the National Tourism Administration after video footage went viral showing her threatening visitors for not spending enough money on souvenirs.
Authorities later fined the tour agency 50,000 yuan and forced it to close down for six months.
