Stricter rules for China's tourist guides

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 ◆ Stricter rules for China's tourist guides

From now on China's unqualified tourist guides will find it difficult to survive because of stricter government supervision.

Sources with the China National Tourism Administration said in Hainan recently that China will set standards for guide behavior to bring more order to the industry.

From this March, a legal and more transparent payment system will be established between tourist guides and travel agencies. Under-the-counter deals and all illegal payments are forbidden.

Tourist guides will be graded according to their performances, and will be supervised on a national as well as local level.

The number of tourist guides in China is increasing rapidly to keep pace with the booming tourism industry. According to experts' prediction, China will have 150,000 qualified guides by the end of 2002.(China Daily)