Tour guides are leading Hong Kong travel industry in the wrong direction
Lau Ping Cheung says new regulations being introduced by the Travel Industry Council are mostly sensible, and opposition to them by some local travel agencies is hard to understand

Earlier this week, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying made a point, following an Executive Council meeting, that members of the tourism industry should cooperate and seek common ground.
His comments followed uncooperative action by some members of the tourism industry, in response to the Travel Industry Council’s tightening of rules aimed at better protecting visitors’ rights. New measures include a refund protection scheme, which allows the council to suspend the registration of shops under investigation by law enforcement agencies over possible violation of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, as well as measures to try to stamp out the practice of forced shopping under new directives next week.
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This is by no means a singular appeal by Leung, but one that is backed by significant public opinion. Yet some travel agencies have decided to go against this sentiment, possibly due to their vested interest in some of the registered shops.

Tour guides have repeatedly made the headlines for forcing mainland visitors to make purchases at registered shops
Under the council’s regulations, tourist guides must not, in any way, coerce or attempt to coerce visitors into making purchases, or mislead or attempt to mislead them into doing so.
The reality, however, is rather different. Tour guides have repeatedly made the headlines for forcing mainland visitors to make purchases at registered shops, from which they then receive a commission. In one incident, a 53-year-old mainland tourist died after allegedly being beaten unconscious while trying to mediate a dispute that broke out between a fellow visitor and their tour guide.