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Will Freelance Guides Make Tourism More Enjoyable？

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In recent years， all kinds of disputes have frequently arisen between tourists， tour guides， and the travel agencies that dispatch the guides. Complaints have surged about tour guides forcing tourists to go shopping while on tour. In such cases， sightseeing programs are squeezed， and tourists end up paying much more for their trip than they originally anticipated. Sometimes， tourists attracted by a cheap tour package find after joining their tour group that they are charged again and again. If they refuse to pay， tourists could even be abandoned or bullied by the guide. Wary of the possibility of being ill-treated， more and more tourists nowadays choose to travel independently，particularly the young.

In order to regulate tour guides’ behavior and rescue the country’s tourism industry from chaos， the National Tourism Administration launched an official online platform in August， through which tourists can book a freelance tour guide with relevant qualifications without going through a travel agency. The platform also enables prospective customers to check tour guides’professional credentials and complain about or praise guides’ services. Furthermore， tourists can also ask guides to design itineraries which particularly interest them.

Freelance tour guides are expected to draw a certain proportion of tourists from traditional travel agencies in the future. While leisure travelers pin high hopes on this new model for the tourism industry， some people suggest that efforts to strengthen the regulation and supervision of freelance travel guides and the platform through which they operate should follow. Others， however，question its viability.

A positive step

Hu Yinbin （Xinmin Evening News）: Reports of negative behavior by tour guides have seriously tainted the group’s image. How can their reputation be saved？ Whilst stringent monitoring is sometimes useful， official supervision alone is insufficient to curb all kinds of malicious behavior among the approximately 800，000-strong group.

Some people have nicknamed tour guides “shopping guides，” as many seem more interested in persuading and even forcing tourists to shop rather than in showing them around scenic spots. For most guides，it is the organization of the tourism industry that forces them to act this way. Travel agencies pay them a low salary. Some even have to effectively “buy” tourists from travel agencies， which profit from assigning groups to guides. Consequently， many guides pressurize tourists to buy souvenirs so that they can receive kickbacks from vendors.

As around 70 percent of tourists now choose to reject group tours and travel by themselves， tour guides seem to be facing a survival crisis. If they continue to operate as they have done traditionally， the market is likely to abandon them. Tourism is one of the few industries that have yet to be transformed by the Internet. It now needs to revive itself by embracing the Web.

With the creation of an online booking platform， freelance tour guide services will become increasingly common， and market forces can play a more significant role. Tourists will select tour guides largely on the basis of guides’ service records. Those with positive feedback will gain more customers，while those who fail to create a positive image may finally be kicked out of the business. In this way， the most capable and effective guides will make more money， tourists will enjoy better services， and the bad behavior prevalent for some time in the tourism industry could be eliminated.

The success of this reorganization of course depends on efficient supervision. The tourism industry will thrive only when its negative factors are fully reined in and those who are capable of doing the job well are free to bring into play their full talent.

Yang Qingfeng （www.people.com.cn）: To rescind the regulation that tour guides must be affiliated with travel agencies and allow them to work as freelancers is an important reform in China’s tourism sector. The sanctioning of freelance guides aims to break up the monopoly of travel agencies. In future， licensed tour guides will openly acquire their own customers， and both sides will enjoy more freedom to connect with each other. For tour guides， if they want to attract more tourists， they will have to work hard to satisfy their customers.

Once tour guides are permitted to act as freelancers， however， protecting tourists from risks such as fraud and bullying and solving disputes between the two sides will present a big challenge. Effective supervision and regulation will be even more important than before. Allowing freelance tour guides does not imply the relaxation of monitoring；rather it demands more efficient supervision. All tour guides， including freelancers， should be subject to surveillance by relevant watchdogs， so as to ensure the sector’s health.

Wang Weifeng （www.cjn.cn）: Since they no longer need to connect with tourists through travel agencies， tour guides can shake off the shackles of agency-imposed profit targets. They will no longer need to force tourists to shop while on tour， which has long been condemned by tourists.Consequently， taking an organized tour will become simpler， the way it should be. Guides can feel more relaxed， as they need only to accompany tourists around scenic spots instead of trying to persuade them to indulge in spending sprees. Tourists， meanwhile， can expect to enjoy much better services than in the past， as their comments about their service experiences can directly affect guides’incomes. Also， freelance guides can tailor itineraries to suit tourists’ requirements.

To ensure tourists’ legal rights， administrators will have to carefully review the credibility of the information guides post online， their qualifications and their performance records. The platform should also be strictly supervised， so as to prevent it from colluding with guides to cheat clients.

The thriving of the freelance tour guide sector cannot remove all the problems or conflicts that have existed for years. Some people may worry that if their guide is a freelancer， to whom can they turn in the event of a dispute？ Maybe they’ll still end up paying additional costs just to guarantee their rights.

In order to ensure the smooth development of the online tour guide booking platform， relevant authorities must thoroughly consider the various problems that might crop up and put in place appropriate measures， including an effective complaints system to provide a means for tourists to seek redress in cases of violation of their interests， so as to make the tourism industry healthier and tour group experiences more convenient.

LI SHIGONG

A bleak prospect

Tang Jiachen （The Beijing Times）: It is expected that the online booking platform will help to clean up the mess in the tourism industry， but still I see a bleak prospect for this initiative.

While the number of leisure travelers continues to rise， the proportion that chooses not to join organized tours has skyrocketed. The online booking program faces an embarrassing situation: Young people，who know how to use the Internet， tend not to be interested in guide services， while middle-aged and elderly people who want to join group tours often don’t know how to use such online services.

Another problem is that， in the absence of competitive pressure， high-quality service by freelance tour guides is hardly likely. The booking system， which is based on a national tour guide monitoring platform， features no participation by， and therefore no competition from， other commercial entities. Going by previous experience， official platforms tend to be outdated in operational modes and low in efficiency.

The booking platform seems like a great idea， but in reality it will not help save tourists from various pitfalls. Tour guides will not aspire to make big money through the platform， and so they are unlikely to step out of their traditional relationship with travel agencies. The freelance tour guide program is a positive step， and it’s an important part of reforming the tourism industry， but it needs to be implemented in a feasible way. ■

Copyedited by Chris Surtees