Watchdog highlights tourism complaints

3gzylon 2014-09-22

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2014-09-22 08:58 Shanghai Daily Web Editor: Qian Ruisha

The Shanghai Tourism Administration has highlighted complaints about service quality in the industry, as the weeklong National Day holiday approaches.

The administration hopes these examples will promote awareness of service quality and security responsibilities among tour companies, reported news website thepaper.cn.

In June, a woman surnamed Liu and her husband signed a contract with the Shanghai branch of the Beijing-based Capital International Travel Agency for a tour of five eastern European countries between June 21 and July 1.

On June 27, their guide arranged an evening sightseeing boat trip on the Danube River, but demanded additional fees.

When the Shanghai couple and another four members of the party refused, the guide asked them to take a walk along the river bank while the others went on the cruise.

But while they were strolling, they was stopped by three men claiming to be plainclothes police who inspected their bags and checked their passports.

Afterward, Liu found her wallet was missing.

The guide persuaded her not to report the theft to police, saying this would disrupt their schedule.

Back in Shanghai she complained to the Shanghai Tourism Administration, which ruled that Capital International should shoulder responsibility for Liu's economic loss as it had not made suitable and safe arrangements when she declined to go on the boat trip.

Moreover, there were problems with its attitude and service in refusing to help Liu report the theft.

Another named company was the Shanghai Donghu International Travel Agency, which lost the passports of more than 30 tourists, who had planned to travel to South Korea in August.

The company returned their fees and paid compensation after mediation by the tourism administration.

In another case reported by the administration, an unnamed tour agency mixed up the pictures of two tourists when going through arrangements for an outbound package tour. As a result, they couldn't go on the tour.

The National Day holiday runs from October 1 to 7.