SAMUEL CHAN SAMUEL.CHAN@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Friday, 06 November, 2015, 5:35pm
UPDATED : Friday, 06 November, 2015, 5:35pm
A new measure would require visitors' names to be reviewed by the city's tourism watchdog so that those who coerce visitors into shopping could be identified. Photo: SCMP Pictures
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.
The announcement today came a day after a sales supervisor at a local jewellery store where a tourist was allegedly beaten before he died in hospital last month was arrested by customs officers yesterday in connection with an alleged case of forced shopping.
Among the new measures slated to be enforced “as soon as possible” and announced today, local tourist agencies are soon to be required to submit lists of visitors’ names and their tour group leaders before they arrive in the city for the Travel Industry Council’s scrutiny.
Speaking at the Legislative Council today, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Greg So Kam-leung said: “If the council during its spot checks found some mainland visitors’ names repeatedly appear on the lists of different tour groups, then there would be reason to suspect these people were shadow visitors who coerce visitors into shopping.”
“The council would then submit those names to relevant authorities on the mainland for follow-up action,” he added.
The government also hoped the tourism watchdog would require local travel agencies to make public the cost of hosting tour groups from the mainland. Doing so would improve transparency, the commerce minister said.
He explained that if potential visitors saw prevailing tour costs they would be better able “to make an informed decision”.
So was scheduled to fly to Beijing next week to discuss with mainland tourism authorities how cross-border cooperation could be beefed up to clamp down on forced shopping, which he said was long-running and threatening the city’s reputation as a travel hub.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1876312/hong-kong-commerce-chief-unveils-plan-end-forced-shopping