New Travel Agency Liability Insurance Goes Into Effect

China's new travel agency liability insurance scheme, which had been in preparation for three years, was formally enacted on January 1, 2010.

With the new travel agency liability insurance, it will now become easier for tourists to claim compensation for accidents that occur during their travel.

It is learned that under the new insurance scheme, tourists can get compensation of up to CNY1,000 for domestic travel and no more than USD500 for overseas travel, directly from the tour guide or the team leader of their tour group, instead of having to go through the previous complicated process.

The new insurance scheme covers 11 kinds of liabilities including traffic accidents and food poisoning. It has also added five additional insurance items to the traditional items, which makes it possible for tourists to claim compensation in case of flight delays or itinerary cancellation caused by natural disasters, infectious diseases, or flight control actions by government agencies.

The new insurance scheme has increased the amount of compensation each tourist can get from a maximum of CNY90,000 per person to CNY200,000 to CNY800,000 per person.