Scams and threats have made Chinese tourists wary of some SE Asian places

Chinese travelers heading overseas are looking for safe destinations, after a video of an unscrupulous tour operator in Thailand threatening and abusing tourists sparked outrage online.

Their concerns have also increased due to reports of scams and kidnappings in Southeast Asian countries targeting tourists.

A short video posted recently to several media platforms showed a tour guide threatening Chinese travelers on a bus in Thailand.

The agitated Chinese-speaking female tour guide tells the group she is taking them to a shop and threatens them saying, "please be quiet before I say the words 'beat you to death' or ask you to get off the tour bus". A male tourist stands up to the woman and protests that the shopping trip is not on the itinerary, but the guide screams at him and shouts "stop pretending".

In recent months, outbound tourism has seen steady growth after the government relaxed COVID-19 control measures and travel restrictions earlier this year.

In February and March, outbound group tours to 60 countries, including Indonesia and Thailand were resumed, with the latter a top choice for Chinese travelers before the pandemic.

On Aug 10, China announced the resumption of group tours to another 78 countries including popular destinations such as Japan and the United Kingdom.

According to the latest figures from the China Tourism Academy, travelers from the Chinese mainland made about 40.4 million visits to overseas destinations in the first half of the year, with the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions the two top choices.

While travelers' passion for overseas trips has been rekindled, they have concerns about tour products and their safety, especially on group tours to Southeast Asian countries.

"I went to Thailand once a year for vacation before the pandemic," said a 34-year-old surnamed Yang from Beijing.

"I planned to travel there in June with my family, but I canceled the trip before departure. Stories people shared about their experiences being trapped in telecommunication frauds in Southeast Asian countries really terrified me.

"In late April, the news reported that a young Chinese couple were found dead in a hotel room in Bali."

He added that he prefers to avoid group tours. In 2018 he joined group tours to Thailand and Japan as he did not know how to apply for a travel visa. While the tours were good, the tour guides wanted the tourists to stop at designated shops. "Travelers are in a weaker position facing these situations, especially at overseas destinations," he said.

Fan Dongxiao, director of the after-sales department at Tuniu, an online travel portal, said that the outbound tourism market has seen incredible growth since March.

"However, several 'black swan' incidents have occurred in Southeast Asian destinations in recent months that have shaken people's confidence in taking overseas trips, which has led to a fluctuation in tour bookings on our platform," Fan said.

However, she said tourism companies believe the travel environment in Southeast Asia is healthy and safe and these destinations are still attractive due to easy visa access and affordable tour prices. She said bookings on their platform had grown over the summer, and it's expected that tourists will soon have full confidence in travel again.

On the issue of unscrupulous behavior by tour guides, Fan said travelers should book with qualified and licensed travel agencies and be wary of tour products that are priced too low.

"It's also important for travelers to be highly aware of their personal safety during a trip," she said, adding they should keep any evidence about unreasonable treatment that can be reported to authorities.

Xu Jing, a judge from the Dongcheng District People's Court in Beijing, said that disputes relating to outbound travel have made up about one-quarter of all tourism disputes heard in the court over the past three years.

She cited an overseas educational trip as an example of a complicated case. "It may involve payment disputes over tour fees, domestic educational training fees and entry fees to overseas competitions," she said.

Xu added that some travel agencies may engage in improper or illegal behavior such as "luring travelers by exaggerating, and randomly changing the itinerary without travelers' permission because they are not familiar with the routes."

She suggested travelers choose large travel agencies with a good reputation, remain aware of risks and price-gouging, and avoid volatile situations.

"Authorities should also improve supervision of the market and make random or regular inspections of travel agencies running outbound business. Authorities can publish warnings and tips to travelers and blacklist travel agencies that violate laws or regulations to keep the market well-organized," she added.