New Zealand’s consumer watchdog has cracked down on rogue traders ripping off tourists from Asia by selling them fake goods at inflated prices.
One company imported alpaca rugs worth USD1,600 each before re-labelling them as New Zealand products and selling them to unsuspecting tourists for up to USD8,000 apiece.
Another firm admitted selling duvets containing “100 per cent New Zealand merino lamb wool” for up to USD1,000 when they knew the product was not merino wool and was worth only about USD70.
Most of the companies charged were based in Rotorua on the North Island.
Two companies and two individuals have so far been convicted and fined for targeting tourists from China, Korea and Taiwan on organised tours, Commerce Commission chairman Mark Berry said.
“To sell items as New Zealand made when they are not, or knowingly label and sell items as 100 percent alpaca or merino wool when they are not, is deliberately misleading buyers," Berry said.
Tourism is a key sector of the New Zealand economy with international tourists providing 18% of the country’s export earnings in 2010.
The number of Chinese visitors to New Zealand last year rose 38% from 2011 to 208,000.
