Chinese way in business

13 Jul 2015  2035 | World Travel News

BANGKOK  Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul says it is difficult to enforce a crackdown on Chinese zero-dollar tours because it is a Chinese-style of doing business with examples existing in several other countries, not just Thailand.
Talking to local reporters on Wednesday, the tourism minister said: “We need to understand that the zero-dollar tours are a Chinese-style business model used for tours to many countries”.
“The operators gain a profit from selling additional options. In this part, we could not try to modify the behaviour of Chinese tourists.”
She added: “Zero-dollar tour package are not a secret… it is part of the negotiating and business talk. There are examples of it in France and Japan.”
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA“However, we need to find measures to make sure that revenue is generated for Thailand.”
She was referring to the age-old conundrum of seepage whereby foreign tour operators invest in Thailand’s tourism product to ensure that most of the profit and revenue is repatriated. Chinese tour operators go as far as to buy condominium units and transform them into accommodation for their clients to ensure the revenue stays in their accounts. It is a common practice in Pattaya where as much as 30% of the units in a condominium are bought by Chinese tour operators. They usually ask for a separate lift and reception area to be included in the deal.
Zero-dollar tours are also linked to unscheduled trips to gem shops, steep commissions exacted from suppliers – boat owners, restaurants and theme parks. Some of them pay up to 70% to gain volume bookings from Chinese tour operators.
The Ministry of Tourism and Sports is stepping up efforts to crack down on Thai proxy agents working with Chinese tour companies selling zero-dollar packages.
“The move is aimed at reducing the impact of these package deals, which are either very cheap or require tourists to pay nothing for trips to Thailand. Once in Thailand, the handling agent pressures Chinese tourists to buy overpriced goods and services , leading to several complaints,” the minister said.
“It is not easy to clamp down on the practice even though the Chinese government imposed a policy to regulate outbound zero-dollar tours in late 2013. We need to focus on Thai proxies who are helping Chinese tour companies to handle tourists here.”
The tourism ministry will cooperate with the Revenue Department to check tax payments by suspect Thai agents because most of them are not legally registered.
She said that the tax payment check would help to ensure tourism income stays in the country rather than transferred back to China.
The ministry also plans to work closely with Department of Tourism to tighten the rules on tour company registration.
This year, Tourism Authority of Thailand expects 7.5 million Chinese to visit the country and generate THB330,000 million in revenue. Next year, the market revenue could grow to THB400,000 million with 8 million visits.
The minister said: “With nearly 8 million arrivals expected, next year, Chinese tourists are essential for the Thai tourism industry… We need cooperation from all parties to upgrade industry standards. Lazy guides, illegal or nominee travel agents, and tourism fraud must be stopped.”
Association of Thai Travel Agents says it is supporting the campaign with its own measures.
They are: Do not abandon travellers on a tour; a Thai tour guide must be on the tour bus at all times; and ensure there are no threats or attempts to force tourists to buy products or make unscheduled stops off the programme.
If companies fail to adopt three simple measures they could lose their membership and be banned from receiving tourists at airports in Thailand, according to ATTA president Charoen Wangananont.
ATTA will also cooperate with the Department of Tourism, Tourism Authority of Thailand and Central Investigation Bureau to monitor tour operators in the Chinese market.

sourced:traveldailynews.asia 

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