Shopping Stop Ban in Malaysia for China Tourist
In early October 2013, the Chinese government enforced new regulations to ban tour agencies from offering packages that require travellers to stop and spend a minimum amount at sponsored shops on the way to their advertised destination.
How this has affected the large portion of inbound Chinese tourist to Malaysia is still unknown.
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| Shopping Stops are common among China tourist. |
Sources quote that a Beijing government official had said: “any travel agency undertaking shopping-oriented tours is liable to have its operations suspended and have to pay a fine ranging from 30,000-300,000 yuan (US$5,000-$50,000).”
The law further bans travel agencies from organizing tours at unreasonably low prices to deceive tourists about their true nature and collecting commissions from the vendors whose stores they take them on their tours. Another source cited a rumour that the tour operator in China would be jailed if caught.
A source had also mentioned that those ‘shopping stops’ in Kuala Lumpur have also resorted to re-structuring their tactical move to counter the Chinese shopping ban in Malaysia. Apparently, there are loopholes mentioned by one operator.
Coach or van drivers are also given a ‘parking fee’ for each time they stop at the selected store. In some cases, the travel company that arranged for the tour also gets a total commission for any purchases made during the tour.
On our way back from the temples, he politely asked me if it is alright to make a shopping stop at one of the large souvenir shops. I reluctantly told him that I was not a shopper, and he cleverly replied, ‘it’s alright, I will make a quick stop, you just go in and walk one round and meet me outside‘.
Seeing how honest he was about it, I eventually made him stop at three shops, and he got three litres of petrol which absolutely made his day.
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| Inside the Jade Factory in Beijing. |
Another trip to Beijing in 2012, where I booked a tour to the Great Wall of China from the hotel lobby.
with other tourists, and along the way, we made a stop at a popular Jade factory where it was quite interesting to see how they carved jade
there.
After the Great Wall tour, we were exhausted and tired from the climb when the
van and tour guide made a final stop at a silk factory.
Upon arrival, the tour guide was quite pushy, asking everyone to go in and have a look but out of the eight of
us, only two went in while the rest waited outside.
When we were about
to depart, the guide asked us in a no-so-happy manner why we did not go
inside and we simply replied that we were not interested in silk. Her
mood immediately changed and all the way back to the hotel, and she never uttered another
word.
With Visit Malaysia Year 2014 or VMY2014 around the corner, many are afraid of what will happen about the shopping stop ban in Malaysia for China Tourist.
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