Recently, many consumers have reported to the "Financial Investigation" column that despite the government's vigorous efforts to regulate the tourism market, consumer fraud still occurs. Some group tours with rich itineraries and advertised as "pure sightseeing with no shopping or extra fees" are frequently involved in consumer disputes. The actual itineraries often differ significantly from the advertised packages, with hidden shopping, forced consumption, and last-minute price increases occurring frequently. Many low-priced tour groups in the market are rife with deceptive practices.

A 999 yuan Yunnan low-price tour changed 5 travel agencies in one trip.

A reporter placed an order for a "Yunnan Kunming-Dali-Lijiang group tour" in a live-streaming room. This five-day, four-night all-inclusive tour, including meals, accommodation, and activities, was priced at only 999 yuan. The advertisement clearly stated that there were only two shopping stops throughout the trip, and that all purchases were voluntary and not mandatory. The tour manager proactively contacted the reporter and upgraded the tour to a six-day, five-night trip free of charge, providing a copy of the business license of the online operator, "Yunnan Daiyu International Travel Agency Co., Ltd."

When the reporter arrived in Kunming to sign the tourism contract, they discovered that the contracting entity had changed. It was now Shandong Future International Travel Service Co., Ltd., Kunming Branch, and the ground handling unit was Lijiang Honghui Travel Service Co., Ltd. Industry insiders told the reporter that the reporter's tour was subcontracted and operated by four different agencies: the online sales party was Hubei Ailv Fentu International Travel Co., Ltd., Kunming Branch 1; the intermediary was Yunnan Daiyu; the contracting entity was Shandong Future; and the ground handling was handled by Lijiang Honghui Travel Service. The reporter reviewed the contract details and found that it listed four shopping locations, contradicting the online seller's promise of only two shopping stops.

According to the itinerary, the shopping stops were scheduled for the fourth and fifth days. However, starting from the morning of the second day, the tour guide gradually complained to the group members about the low tour fee and his own losses, implying that the group should make purchases at the shopping stops to make up for the losses. His remarks were filled with memorable phrases.

"You know very well how much money you paid; it's not even enough to cover the cost of food, drink, and other necessities along the way!"

"You can't buy this, the tour guide gets a kickback... How can you be so filthy? You've been a troublemaker the whole trip!"

After two days of building anticipation on the bus, the 999 RMB Kunming-Dali-Lijiang tour officially entered the jade shopping segment. The tour guide immediately set the rule: everyone on the bus must purchase jade; otherwise, they cannot leave the shopping mall.

Tourists were pressured into buying jade by the tour guide, but the reporter insisted on not making any purchases, adhering to the voluntary shopping agreement in the contract. As a result, the reporter was first asked to leave the store by sales staff. While waiting, the reporter received repeated phone calls from the online travel agent, who threatened to cancel accommodations and attractions, or treat the reporter as having left the group without permission, if they did not participate in the shopping trip. The reporter was then cornered at the restroom door by shop staff who continued to pressure them into buying through moral blackmail, while the online agent sent sarcastic voice messages to coerce the reporter into making a purchase.

“We should have a conscience. Tour guides need to meet certain sales targets. Even if you spend 780 yuan today, you still won’t meet the sales target.”

The entire jade shopping event lasted nearly three hours. Only after most tourists had finished their purchases were they able to gather and return to the bus. As soon as they boarded, a new round of sales pitches began. With jade sales not ideal that day, flower cakes naturally became the target for boosting sales.

After the promotion of local specialties ended, the tour guide abruptly ended his duties, and the rest of the tour was handled by a new guide arranged by the travel agency in Lijiang. By the end of the trip, the reporter had contacted five different travel agencies. Article 60 of the Tourism Law of the People's Republic of China clearly stipulates that when a travel agency enters into a tourism contract with a tourist, the basic information of the entrusting agency and the agent agency should be included in the contract to ensure the tourist's right to know. However, the new tour guide consistently refused to reveal the full name of his travel agency, focusing instead on completely distancing himself from the first half of the trip, cleverly leaving room for maneuver in the later stages.

After finally making it to the fifth day of the trip, the tourists were looking forward to sightseeing, but the tour guide started a new round of shopping on time, taking the group to the Huanglong jade market and subtly urging everyone to spend money.

"We're all ancient foxes, some thousands of years old, some demons, there's no need for us to talk nonsense with each other, is there? Let's just buy it and leave."

Many tourists secretly thought that after visiting the Huanglong jade shop, they could escape the shopping and enjoy the scenery in peace. However, the vehicle turned around and the group was taken to a medicinal herb store. The tour guide's words had only one meaning: if they didn't shop, they wouldn't be served a meal!

"After you've finished buying at any counter, come find me. Why? To arrange for you to have dinner at the restaurant, okay?"

The entire six-day, five-night Kunming-Dali-Lijiang trip was punctuated by a quarter of its time spent at various shopping outlets. While the initial promotion only included two shopping stops, the actual number increased to three. Frequent changes in the operating travel agency and constant pressure from the tour guide were recurring themes throughout the journey.

A 1,000-yuan "pure sightseeing tour" to Xishuangbanna turns into a "shopping tour."

Three sightseeing spots, five shopping stops (no extra charges, meals not guaranteed).

Another team of reporters from the "Financial Investigation" column experienced firsthand the "1,000 Yuan Xishuangbanna Four Days and Three Nights" tour package. The sales staff at the offline store repeatedly assured the reporters that this was a pure sightseeing tour with no shopping stops. All shopping and optional excursions were crossed out in the contract, and the tour contract itself stated it was a zero-shopping, zero-excursion pure sightseeing tour.

Upon arriving at the Puer Sun River Forest Park, the first scenic spot promised in the contract, the reporter was first forced to pay an extra 60 yuan for the electric shuttle bus. At the same time, various folk experiences and nighttime activities were bundled with the shuttle bus fee into a 660 yuan package ticket, with no option to purchase individual items. Those who paid were allowed to enter and experience the activities, while those unwilling to pay were left outside to wait, without any rest area or food provided.

The seemingly fulfilling four-day, three-night Xishuangbanna itinerary, after deducting travel time, leaves very little actual sightseeing time, with only three official tourist attractions visited throughout the entire trip. In stark contrast, shopping stops are frequent, with five stores selling tea, latex, silk, health products, and silverware in turn.

Ordinary local specialties in each store were imbued with miraculous effects. Everyday items like tea, home textiles, silverware, and medicinal herbs were touted by salespeople as all-purpose remedies that could regulate the body, nourish organs, and inhibit bacteria and cure diseases. The lengthy presentations and relentless sales pitches turned what should have been a relaxing vacation into a long, passive wait in the store. When tourists showed no interest in buying anything, the staff's attitude noticeably worsened, their tone becoming increasingly harsh and direct—they were determined to get tourists to spend money.

The tour guide said, "I think even if I didn't make any great contributions, I still put in a lot of effort; even if I didn't put in a lot of effort, I still worked hard."

Salesperson: "Is your butt stuck to the stool? What's wrong? A summer blanket for 100 yuan! If you can buy it, I'll eat it!"

According to Article 35 of the Tourism Law of the People's Republic of China, travel agencies are prohibited from organizing tourism activities at unreasonably low prices to lure tourists and obtaining illicit profits such as kickbacks through shopping arrangements or separately charged tourism projects. However, whether it's the Kunming-Dali-Lijiang route or the Xishuangbanna itinerary, group tour products touted as high-quality, all-inclusive tours ultimately become special itineraries that prioritize shopping and consumption while neglecting sightseeing.

For each order of fresh flower cakes, the tour guide receives a 20 yuan commission.

The gray market of low-priced tours in Yunnan: tour groups are subcontracted at multiple levels.

To uncover the secrets behind low-priced travel products, a reporter visited Hunan Yundian International Travel Service Co., Ltd., a company specializing in Yunnan routes. The manager told the reporter that this year, some travel agencies in Yunnan have been using a common tactic with their low-priced tour packages: packaging silver shops and stores as intangible cultural heritage exhibition halls and cultural museums and incorporating them into the itinerary. This is known in the industry as a "pure play borderline" type of product. The hidden shopping stops and unexpected optional excursions encountered by the reporter during the trip were a direct manifestation of this tactic.

The head of Yunnan Yunya International Travel Agency Co., Ltd. explained the division of labor within the travel agency to reporters. In selling low-priced products, the organizing agency often chooses to attract customers at a loss. After tourists sign contracts, to cover the shortfall in tour fees, the organizing agency not only doesn't settle the reception costs when transferring adult tourists with spending power to the local travel agency, but may even charge the local agency an extra fee to achieve a profit. This is what the industry calls the "negative tour fee" model. Simply put, the organizing agency's goal is to attract customers and sell tour groups to local travel agencies to generate profit; therefore, the local travel agency incurs a loss from the very beginning.

Industry insiders told reporters that this summer, local travel agencies in Yunnan that were operating at a loss could only profit from kickbacks on tourist shopping and optional excursions. Moreover, their earnings were unpredictable, entirely dependent on the tourists' spending – a situation known in the tourism industry as "gambling tours." To mitigate the risk of a single tour group's losses, local travel agencies commonly subcontracted tours between different attractions, splitting the same tour group among multiple agencies to distribute the losses layer by layer.

The reporter noticed that the term "betting value" appeared in the travel agency's documents, representing the minimum rebate target each tourist must generate. The "Tour Guide Policy" section of the documents also detailed the commission rates for tour guides. Even for small local specialties like flower cakes, tour guides could receive a commission of 20 yuan per sale, and drivers 15 yuan per sale. (Source: CCTV News)