CNTA: Travel Agencies Received More Complaints In 2008

The China National Tourism Administration has published a report on the complaints received about travel services in 2008.

The report states that travel quality inspection agencies at all levels received 9,334 complaints in 2008, and of these 8,068 had been accepted. This is a decrease of 19.08% over the same period in the previous year, and 7,887 were resolved, an increase of 1.89%. Over the year, CNY6.976 million was disbursed as compensation to tourists, a decrease of 20.15%.

The report said that in 2008 the tourism department received 1,903 less complaints than 2007, however more complaints were made about travel agencies, accounting for 57.29% of the total. The report states that the tourism transportation sector received 27 more complaints, an increase of 13.91% over the same period in the previous year. The main complaints were concerned with lowering of accommodation standards, means of transport and quality of food service on the trip. These accounted for 22.81% of the total. In addition, there were more complaints made by senior citizens and these complaints mainly concerned travel agencies charging group fees for outbound travel and offering no discounts on entry prices for scenic spots.