Society

Scuffle sullies image of Hong Kong tours

By Guo Jiaxue (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-02-09 07:59

Lam Yue-yung, a tour guide involved in a conflict with mainland tourists, leaves a Hong Kong court after receiving a HK$1,000 goodbehavior bond on Monday. TAN DAMING / CHINA NEWS SERVICE

HONG KONG - The recent scuffle between a tour guide and her tourists may force the Hong Kong government to set up a new regulatory body for the industry.

Commissioner for Tourism Philip Yung said on Tuesday that the government has "deeply reviewed" the regulatory system of Hong Kong's tourism industry, including the feasibility of setting up a new independent body to regulate the industry apart from the current Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong (TIC). The TIC has been labeled as ineffective since a series of incidents surfaced of mainland tourists being forced to shop.

The government will pass the review results to the Legislative Council for discussion by the end of this month, Yung said.

When meeting Rita Lau Ng Wai-lan, secretary for commerce and economic development on Tuesday afternoon, Legislator Lee Wah-ming recommended that the government arrange for the Travel Agent Registry to take over regulatory responsibility because the registry can revoke agency licenses as the most severe punishment.

The conflict that embarrassed Hong Kong happened on Saturday, the third day of the Spring Festival holiday. A couple from East China's Anhui province, both 40, said their 37-year-old female tour guide verbally abused them after they spent two hours but bought nothing in a jewelry shop. The verbal dispute then turned into a physical conflict. The husband and tour guide reportedly began to fight, while the wife and another tourist tried but failed to stop the scuffle. The husband later called police.

The tour guide and three tourists, including the couple, were then detained by police. All claimed being injured in the fight.

However, the incident took a sharp turn the next day when the husband said the incident was all "a misunderstanding" caused by a language barrier between Mandarin and Cantonese.

The couple and the guide were transferred to a local court on charges of involvement in a fight in a public place.

Each of the three was placed on a HK$1,000 ($128) good-behavior bond by the court on Monday. The couple later returned to Anhui.

The incident is considered a big blow to the reputation of Hong Kong tourism. The agency where the tour guide works has been asked to submit a report to the TIC within 14 days.

Prior to the case, 10 new rules proposed by the TIC had come into effect on Feb 1, including setting a basic salary system for the city's tour guides and establishing a mechanism to record tour guides' performances. The reform is in response to two similar incidents last year, including one where a tour guide was caught on video insulting a group of tourists, also from Anhui, for not spending enough in a jewelry shop.

Wong Ka-ngai, chairman of the Hong Kong Tour Guides General Union, estimated that 80 percent of Hong Kong tour guides still have no basic salary, which he claimed leads to guides hoping to make more money from commissions from the stores.

James Tien Pei-chun, chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, said the new rules were "apparently" poorly implemented. The TIC is actually in a difficult position as its members are tour agents who pay it membership fees, he said.

Tien agreed that another independent body should be set up to regulate the industry and to be responsible for licensing, while the TIC, he suggested, would protect the interests of travel agents only.

TIC Executive Director Joseph Tung called the remarks "unfair criticism".

Tung said that the new rules are "the right medicine" and will have a deterrent effect. The strong objection to the new rules from industry practitioners could also be proof of their effectiveness, he added.

China Daily

(China Daily 02/09/2011 page4)