What are the pits of the agreed lunch local chicken hot pot turned egg yolk pie "low-priced × day tour"

The agreed lunch of local chicken hot pot turned into egg yolk pie

Reporter investigates what are the "pits" of "low-cost ×day tour"

Investigate motives

Recently, Mr. Lin, a tourist from the northeast, reported to reporters that he traveled to Lijiang, Yunnan on April 4 and encountered the pit of "low-cost one-day trip" - the "portable oxygen cylinder" displayed on the page had to be bought at his own expense, and he bought several bottles (16 yuan a bottle) under the constant promotion of the tour guide; The lunch "local chicken hot pot" that should have been served turned into an egg yolk pie; Urged by the tour guide to buy flags, take battery cars, etc., and give a look on the face if you don't buy a tour guide...

Recently, the tourism fever has gradually heated up. Price is one of the most concerned factors, and some travel agencies have also launched "low-price ×day tour" products. However, in the process of low-cost tours, various disputes continue.

What are the possible pitfalls of the "low-cost ×day tour"? How to solve it? The reporter conducted an investigative interview.

□ Zhang Shoukun, reporter of this newspaper

"You see, it clearly says that 298 yuan includes scenic spot tickets, ropeways, portable oxygen cylinders, local chicken hot pot, etc., but in fact, in addition to tickets and cableways, the others are either not available or simplified. The tour guide also kept selling us goods, throwing off his face if he didn't buy it. Mr. Lin, a tourist, recently told the "Rule of Law Daily" reporter.

The reporter saw that Mr. Lin bought a "one-day trip" from the Internet, with an original price of 535 yuan and a discount price of 298 yuan, which indicated "scenic spot entrance ticket + ropeway ticket + portable oxygen cylinder + cold clothing rental + round-trip transfer". The package details also state that local chicken hot pot, mineral water, etc. are provided.

Mr. Lin calculated that it would cost about 260 yuan to buy scenic spot tickets and ropeway tickets and take a taxi to the scenic spot. 298 yuan is indeed very cost-effective, but I didn't expect that the service shrank seriously, promoted goods all the way, and the number of tour groups was large, the tour guide management ability was poor, and so on to sit on the ropeway, just waiting for the gathering for more than 1 hour, and it was very unpleasant.

Similar bad things have happened to Mr. Lin alone.

On April 4, the General Office of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued the Notice on Further Regulating the Order of the Tourism Market, which proposed to crack down on market chaos such as "unreasonable low-price tourism". At present, the overall operation of the tourism market is stable and orderly, and it is gradually showing a good momentum of recovery and development. However, "unreasonable low-price tours", tour guides insulting tourists, forced shopping and other phenomena have increased, seriously disrupting the normal market order and seriously affecting the overall image of the tourism industry. In the critical period of the recovery and development of the tourism market, it is urgent to strengthen the comprehensive management of market order, protect the legitimate rights and interests of tourists, and effectively enhance market expectations.

Experts interviewed by reporters believe that the competent authorities should further standardize the management of travel agencies, severely punish violations by travel agencies, and issue relevant management rules on "low-cost ×day tours" as soon as possible. In addition to curbing unreasonable low-cost tourism, relevant departments should also actively act to meet tourists' desire for "low-cost and high-quality" travel.

Whether round-trip time is included

Travel agents should inform you clearly

Not long ago, Mr. Lai, a tourist, shared his travel experience on the Internet, and after purchasing a "Xiamen five-day tour" product from a travel agency at a low price, he found that the real tour took less than 4 days.

According to the contract signed between Mr. Lai and the travel agency, 3 to 1 day before the start of the trip, tourists who cancel the contract and withdraw from the tour will be deducted 40% of the tour fee by the travel agency. However, the exact time of departure on February 2 was not clearly stated in the contract, and Mr. Lai was informed only after signing the contract that the flight time was on the evening of February 20 and the time of arrival in Xiamen was 2 a.m. on February 20.

Mr. Lai told reporters that the first two days were with the tour guide, according to the itinerary before departure, to visit various attractions, free activities on the third day, and on the fourth day was originally planned to return from Xiamen at 3:4 p.m., but it was temporarily advanced to return at 4 p.m., so the total travel time was less than 40 days, more than 4 day less than the 5-day tour claimed by the travel agency.

In response, the travel agency replied that the "×-day tour" includes a round-trip time by default, which is a fact that everyone knows. However, the reporter found in the investigation that many travel agencies did not indicate this content in their publicity and contracts, or did not sign a contract at all, and only informed the specific travel arrangements after the tourists paid the money.

Should the "× Day Tour" include a round trip?

In this regard, Zhang Jing, a teacher at Hulunbuir College, believes that "×-day tours" can include round-trip time, but travel agencies should clearly remind consumers. Tourists enjoy the right to know as consumers, and the Civil Code clearly stipulates that civil subjects engaged in civil activities should follow the principles of voluntariness, fairness and good faith, and knowing is the prerequisite for ensuring fairness and voluntariness.

"There is an information asymmetry between travel agents and tourists. As a professional provider of tourism services, travel agencies have more information advantages in terms of professionalism and familiarity with the tourism products they provide, and tourists are in a weak position as consumers. In order to ensure the fairness of information, travel agencies are obliged to inform in advance. In addition, travel agencies often use standard terms for convenience when concluding contracts with consumers. As the provider of standard terms, travel agencies are in a relatively strong position, and in most cases, '×-day tours' including round-trip time are unfavorable terms for consumers and have significant interests for consumers, so they must be clearly indicated in the contract. Zhang Jing said.

In addition, the reporter found that the "high-quality service" guaranteed in many "low-cost ×day tours" often becomes empty talk.

At the beginning of April this year, Mr. Li of Hedong District, Tianjin, bought a cheaper two-day tour of Wuyuan on the official website of a travel agency, the itinerary included the Wuyuan Jiangling Scenic Area, the original itinerary was in the afternoon, but the tour guide was temporarily changed to the morning. The ticket gate of the scenic spot is at the top of the mountain, and Mr. Li arrived at the bottom of the mountain, but the tour guide did not arrange a shuttle bus, and they needed to charter a car to go up the mountain at their own expense.

"I booked a two-day tour, instead of asking a travel agency to book tickets for the scenic spots, and the travel agency should arrange the itinerary. If there is no shuttle bus, you can arrange other places, or notify the team in advance to book a car to the scenic area together, instead of replying with a bad attitude, isn't it for you to buy a ticket. Mr. Li told reporters that he called the official customer service to reflect, but no one helped him solve the problem.

In order not to delay the trip, he could only charter a car with others to go up the mountain, but the tour guide only gave one hour to play, the whole process was to rush, there was no time to see any scenery, the trip that originally ended at 6 p.m. ended at 4:<> p.m.

Promises cannot be delivered

The merchant is suspected of false promotion

In January this year, Mr. Wu from Hefei City, Anhui Province, purchased a Harbin Snow Country itinerary in the live broadcast room of a travel agency, and although there was a clause in the contract that the reservation was non-refundable, because the price was particularly suitable and the variety of games was rich, Mr. Wu made an appointment immediately after the purchase. However, when he came to the hotel in late January to sign the contract with the staff, Mr. Wu realized that there was a lot of content that was completely different from the promotion in the live broadcast room and the communication with the travel butler.

"Before departure, I was supposed to have one-on-one service from the butler after placing the order, but it turned out that someone added me to WeChat to send me notes. During the live broadcast, it was promised to stay in a five-star hotel in Harbin, and when I went to the local area, I found that the four-diamond hotel that belonged to the travel app's self-assessment was not the five-star hotel advertised. Mr. Wu said that not only that, when he went to the snow town, the tourism housekeeper always said that he lived in the snow town, but in fact he lived in the Erlang River, dozens of kilometers away from the snow town, and the accommodation was very poor, and the accommodation was a shared room, not a single room as promised.

"Also, the small tour car promised to cover the whole air seat at that time was actually a large tour car, the smell of gasoline in the car was very strong, and the hot spring included in the tour contract did not go to the factory, the reason given was that the boiler was broken, and the cost in this regard was not refunded. One day, there were only 13 dishes for lunch for 6 people, and the contract stated that a table of 10 people had at least 8 dishes and one soup, and on the last day, there was no lunch. The contract said there were only two shopping stores and actually took us to 4. Mr. Wu said that if he had not arrived at the tourist place and could not refund it, he would definitely not have chosen to suffer.

Qi Xiaobo, chief engineer of the Tourism Research and Planning Design Center of the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that the failure of many promises made by travel agencies to be fulfilled should be regarded as false publicity and infringement. If special circumstances are encountered in the process, it is necessary to temporarily adjust the accommodation and dining standards, and if it is lower than the original standard, the difference should be refunded; If individual attractions are cancelled, the reason should be explained to the tourist in advance or in time, and the consent of the tourist should be obtained, and the attraction ticket should be returned or replaced with other corresponding attractions.

"If the travel agency has false claims, it is unreasonable not to give consumers a refund after the appointment." Zhang Jing said that on the one hand, if a contract has been concluded, consumers can claim liability for breach of contract based on the travel agency's false publicity. Depending on the degree of breach, consumers with minor circumstances can claim liability for breach of contract, and serious consumers can claim that the contract is invalid. On the other hand, the principle of good faith and fairness runs through the entire contract, even if it is still in the negotiation stage and the contract has not yet been concluded, the travel agency has the obligation of good faith, and if the loss of consumers' trust interests is caused by fraud and misdirection, consumers can claim contractual negligence liability. Therefore, when the merchant falsely advertises, the consumer has the right to request a refund, but the specific refund amount depends on the specific situation.

In the investigation, the reporter also found that in the live broadcast room, many travel agencies promised "all prices included" and "low prices and affordable", including various fees. However, some tourists were charged an additional 100 yuan for insurance when signing the contract, and although the contract clearly stated that "it is recommended to buy by yourself", the staff said that they could not join the tour group if they did not buy it. There are also some tour guides who sell self-paid items that are not included in the contract in the car, and take tourists to shopping shops that are not included in the itinerary.

"Although accident insurance is necessary for both consumers and travel agencies, it is not reasonable to charge additional fees. Since the contract stipulates that voluntary purchases are made, consumers should be allowed to make their own choices, rather than disguised compulsory consumption. Whether it is reasonable to promote self-financed items that are not included in the contract depends on the circumstances. If there is no compulsory consumption, it is reasonable to provide consumers with more real and reasonable tourism information for their free choice. The unauthorized addition of shopping points is a violation of the contract and is a breach of contract. Qi Xiaobo said.

Providing false promotional information

Live streaming platforms shall be responsible

Are live streaming platforms responsible for these businesses that falsely advertise tourism?

In Zhang Jing's view, the live broadcast platform should be responsible. Before carrying out publicity, the live streaming platform is obliged to review the credit standing of the travel agency and the tourism products it provides. If the live streaming platform does not conduct a review and provides false publicity information, the live streaming platform shall bear joint and several liability with the merchant; If the live streaming platform has conducted a reasonable prior investigation, but the travel agency deliberately deceives, the live streaming platform can first assume responsibility to the consumer and then pursue responsibility from the travel agency that falsely advertises.

The reporter found that the various problems of "low-cost × day tours" have actually existed for many years, why have these problems not been cured?

Zhang Jing believes that in the face of fierce competition, travel agencies will attract consumers through low prices, and then make up for the loss of low prices through "secondary consumption". Consumers are easily attracted by low prices, and some consumers take chances, believing that they can enjoy high-quality services even if they are low. At the same time, supervision is difficult, because the supervision of the travel industry involves not only the cultural and tourism sector, but also market supervision, telecommunications and other departments, which requires the cooperation of all departments to form a joint force.

How to rectify the problems existing in the "low-cost × day tour"?

Qi Xiaobo believes that first of all, it should be cracked down on and curbed from the source, the competent authorities should further standardize the management of travel agencies, severely punish the violations of travel agencies, and issue relevant management rules on "low-cost ×day tours" as soon as possible.

Qi Xiaobo said: "Relevant departments at all levels should pay attention to it, establish an effective and timely administrative aid and judicial aid system, provide tourists with convenient and timely channels for rights protection and complaints, and obtain timely help from tourism administrative departments, and problems can be dealt with in a timely manner, and severely punished, cutting off the interest chain of non-compliant and unreasonable 'low-price ×day tours'." ”

In Zhang Jing's view, from the perspective of travel agencies, cultural tourism projects can be innovated, attract tourists with more personalized and diversified services, and enhance their competitiveness in the tourism market by enhancing tourists' experience and high-quality services; Other travel agencies that compete in bad faith should also play their own supervisory role, report to the relevant departments in a timely manner, and jointly maintain the normal order of the tourism market.

"From the perspective of consumers, consumers should take the initiative to learn and understand the harm of unreasonable low-cost tour groups, and consciously resist unreasonable low-cost tour groups." When legitimate rights and interests are harmed, first protect the personal safety of yourself and your family, leave evidence, and promptly seek help from the police or relevant departments to protect your rights. Zhang Jing said.

Experts interviewed believe that in addition to curbing unreasonable low-cost tourism, relevant departments should also actively act to meet tourists' desire for "low-cost and high-quality" travel.

"The government and relevant media should strengthen publicity and guidance, middle-aged and elderly people account for more of unreasonable low-priced groups, and community publicity and education are particularly important." Schools should strengthen the education of students and widely publicize the harm of unreasonable and low-cost tour groups, on the one hand, they can help students establish a correct concept of tourism consumption, and on the other hand, students can also influence their own families. Universities and scientific research institutions should actively participate in the research of cultural tourism innovation projects, cooperate with tourism enterprises, design colorful tourism projects, and provide more diversified and intelligent tourism projects. Zhang Jing said. (Rule of Law Daily)