Hong Kong commerce chief unveils plan to end 'forced shopping' for mainland Chinese tourists
Hong Kong’s tourism industry watchdog is ready to soon roll out reinforced measures to stem “forced shopping”, including handing to mainland authorities the names of suspected “shadow visitors” and making public how much group tours to the city normally should cost, the commerce minister said.
Hong Kong's tourism watchdog is ready to roll out reinforced measures to stem "forced shopping", including handing to mainland authorities the names of suspected "shadow visitors" who push tourists into spending at shops, lawmakers have heard.
The Travel Industry Council may also make public the normal market prices of group tours from the mainland, according to the commerce minister.
As well, local tour agencies could be required to submit name lists of visitors and their group leaders before their arrival for the council's scrutiny.
The proposed initiatives, announced yesterday, are to be enforced "as soon as possible".
A day earlier, customs had arrested, in connection with an alleged case of forced shopping, a sales supervisor at a Hung Hom jewellery store where a tourist was said to have been beaten last month before he died in hospital.
"If the council, during its spot checks, found the names of some mainland visitors appear repeatedly on the lists of different tour groups, there would be reason to suspect these people were 'shadow visitors' who coerced visitors into shopping," Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Greg So Kam-leung told reporters at the Legislative Council. "The council would then submit those names to the relevant authorities on the mainland for follow-up action."
