Defaulters banned from starred hotels and luxury tours

People who fail to meet their obligations will not be allowed to check into starred hotels or enjoy high-end tourism products once they are recorded on the Credit Beijing blacklist, the first of its kind on credit in tourism put into use in Beijing on Tuesday.

Beijing Youth Daily reported that defaulters were not only limited to tourism, such as tourists and tour guides, but also included dishonest people in other sectors, such as finance.

The platform, which started construction on March 30, 2017, has so far collected and stored 170 million entries of credit information concerning 44,690 tour guides, 2,672 travel agencies, 281 key tourist attractions and 559 starred hotels in Beijing, with a plan to create a comprehensive credit archive of tour guides and tourism-related businesses.

Further linked to other public and enterprise information platforms in Beijing, Credit Beijing can share credit information, issue notices and warnings, allow the filing of tour complaints and more.

"Tourists may research the credit records of tour guides and businesses via the official website, Wechat account and app to know their economic and social reputations and identify the unscrupulous ones," an official from the Beijing Tourism Association said.

"People who have failed to fulfill court orders will be banned from starred hotels and expensive shopping tours. Stricter scrutiny will be imposed on defaulters who apply for travel agency licenses or tour guide certificates," the official said.

"The practice will play a positive role in building a healthy business ecosystem, safeguarding the legitimate interests of tourists and further regulating the market order," he added.

Besides tougher regulations on those working in tourism, the uncivilized behavior of tourists will also be recorded in the platform and posted online.

The credit information platform in Beijing will expand to cover Tianjin and Hebei province in the future, as a joint memorandum of understanding to build an integrated travel credit system was signed on Tuesday.