Thailand standardizes travel market
23/6/2003 16:57
Thailand's standardization of minimum package tour rates was
enthusiastically hailed among Shanghai's overseas travel agencies, the Shanghai
Evening Post reported today.
According to the standard, every Chinese
tourist must pay at least US$18 a day to the Thailand travel agencies, with the
six-day cost reaching at least 3,200 yuan.
Several senior officials of
Thailand went to Beijing several days ago to ink agreements with nine Chinese
travel agencies, determining that the package tour to Thailand should take no
more than five days, travel agencies can take tourists to only one store for no
more than three hours and travelers can return purchases if quality problems are
found within a month.
"This is fantastic, as the tough price wars in the
Thailand tourism market over the past several years have lowered our credit
standing," said a spokesperson with a major travel agency.
Travel
agencies and shopping malls in Thailand will be punished if caught breaking the
rules.
Local travel agencies are planning new travel itineraries to
Thailand, but some industry analysts are concerned about overall implementation
of the rules, stressing that supervision must be strengthened on the Thailand
tourism market.
Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news
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