China's tourism market overhaul gains momentum: CNTA

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 ◆ China's tourism market overhaul gains momentum: CNTA

Intermediate agencies that illegally run outbound tourism businesses will be investigated and severely punished, Monday's China Daily reports.

Efforts will be made to bring the outbound tourism market into order across the country, He Guangwei, chairman of China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), was quoted as saying.

He made the remarks at a national conference that opened on July 27 in Guilin, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in south China, on fighting illegal activities in the tourism trade.

The efforts are part of a nationwide campaign against illegal activities discovered in the tourism sector in the second half of this year.

Local tourism departments will have to complete inspections of the service locations of tourism agencies by the end of September, he said, adding that locations which do not hold enough certificates, which have not registered or offer services beyond what is permitted will be shut down.

The campaign also includes a crackdown on false advertisement of tourist services and illegal tour guides.

Poor management of tourism agencies and inadequate services offered by tourism guides will be rectified.

Moreover, the number of tourism agencies that organize tours for Chinese people to go abroad has increased to 528 from the 1997 figure of 67, he noted. With the enlargement of the market, some of them started to violate regulations.