According to the official WeChat account of "Beijing Cultural Comprehensive Law Enforcement," as of August 17, Beijing had inspected 5,060 tourism businesses, a 35% increase year-on-year; and filed 307 cases of tourism-related violations, a 108% increase year-on-year. Among these, six cases involving tour guide violations and forced consumption were listed as major national cases under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Recently, Beijing's cultural law enforcement authorities have intensified their efforts to investigate and prosecute violations in the tourism market, and have dealt with a number of cases involving tourism-related illegal and irregular activities. Typical cases are now being released to the public.

Case 1: A series of cases involving tour guides inducing tourists to shop and making inappropriate remarks.

From December 2025 to March 2026, based on public reports and leads transferred by the Beijing Municipal Transportation Law Enforcement Team, the Beijing Municipal Cultural Market Comprehensive Law Enforcement Team used AI technology of "voice screening and manual verification" to compare data with the onboard monitoring systems of tour buses, identifying cases of tour guides engaging in "concealed illegal activities" inside tour buses. The investigation revealed that two tour guides, in order to induce tourists to shop, spread inappropriate remarks related to feudal superstition inside the tour buses. Based on the relevant provisions of the "Regulations on the Management of Tour Guides," the Beijing Municipal Cultural Market Comprehensive Law Enforcement Team revoked the tour guide licenses of both tour guides and ordered the agency that commissioned them to suspend operations for one month.

Case 2: Tour guide verbally coerces tourists into making optional purchases.

In June 2026, a Beijing travel agency assigned tour guide Fan to lead a 43-person tour group. During the tour, Fan verbally coerced one tourist into purchasing an optional cable car ride, constituting the act of a tour guide coercing a tourist into making a purchase during tour activities. Based on the relevant provisions of the "Regulations on the Management of Tour Guides," the Xicheng District Cultural Market Comprehensive Law Enforcement Brigade of Beijing imposed an administrative penalty of 1,000 yuan on the tour guide and a warning on the assigning agency.

Case 3: Tour guide fabricates sales pitches to deceive tourists into spending money.

In May 2026, the Beijing Municipal Cultural Market Comprehensive Law Enforcement Team, while reviewing video footage from inside a tour bus, discovered that Zhang, a tour guide assigned by a Beijing travel agency, deliberately fabricated false statements to deceive tourists into making purchases. She claimed that shopping was "required by the state" and "uniformly required by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism," thus undermining the credibility of the shopping stores and misleading tourists into making purchases. This behavior constituted the illegal act of a tour guide deceiving tourists into spending money. Based on the relevant provisions of the "Regulations on the Management of Tour Guides," the Beijing Municipal Cultural Market Comprehensive Law Enforcement Team imposed an administrative penalty of 1,000 yuan on tour guide Zhang, and the assigning travel agency was dealt with separately.

Case 4: Tour guide cancels agreed-upon tour without authorization

In August 2025, tour guide Wang was assigned by a Beijing travel agency to provide tour guide services for a tour group. The travel contract between the agency and the tourists included a visit to the flag-raising ceremony, Tiananmen Square, and the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall. Without the tourists' consent or the travel agency's permission, Wang unilaterally cancelled all the agreed-upon itinerary items and failed to organize the corresponding sightseeing activities, constituting the act of a tour guide unilaterally reducing the tour itinerary. Based on the relevant provisions of the "Regulations on the Management of Tour Guides," the Beijing Municipal Cultural Market Comprehensive Law Enforcement Team imposed an administrative penalty of temporarily suspending the tour guide's license for three months.

Case 5: Five individuals operating outbound tourism business without proper qualifications

In February 2026, Xu and others recruited 33 tourists through a social media platform and entrusted Guo to organize a tour to Vietnam. Guo, without obtaining a travel agency business license, accepted the tour and arranged for Wang, who lacked the necessary qualifications, to accompany the group and provided tour leader services, paying Wang a fee. During the trip, due to insufficient shopping spending by the tourists, the Vietnamese local travel agency demanded additional service fees, and there were instances of tourists abandoning the group. Guo's actions constituted operating a travel agency business without a license. Based on the relevant provisions of the "Tourism Law of the People's Republic of China," the Beijing Municipal Cultural Market Comprehensive Law Enforcement Team imposed an administrative penalty on Guo, fining him 10,000 yuan and confiscating his illegal gains of 17,000 yuan. Xu, Wang, and other related individuals involved in the case were dealt with separately.

Case Six: Travel Agency Subcontracting Services Without Tourists' Consent

In December 2025, a Beijing travel agency advertised group tour packages to Beijing on a short video platform, attracting tourists who purchased and paid the full amount online. Throughout the product promotion and transaction communication process, the travel agency failed to inform tourists of the actual receiving agency's information, nor did it obtain the tourists' written consent to entrust the actual receiving agency to fulfill the contract. After the tourists arrived in Beijing, the actual receiving agency demanded a new tour contract, leading to a dispute. Because the travel agency had not obtained the tourists' written consent to entrust another travel agency to fulfill the package tour contract, the Beijing Municipal Cultural Market Comprehensive Law Enforcement Team, based on the relevant provisions of the "Tourism Law of the People's Republic of China," imposed an administrative penalty of 30,000 yuan on the travel agency and ordered it to suspend operations for one month, and imposed an administrative penalty of 2,000 yuan on the relevant responsible personnel.

Case 7: Travel agency fails to register group travel information as required.

In January 2026, during a special rectification campaign, the Beijing Municipal Cultural Market Comprehensive Law Enforcement Team discovered that Beijing Travel Agency A, which organized a half-day tour of the Forbidden City on the afternoon of January 3rd for eight tourists, failed to complete the electronic itinerary filing and group tour information registration through the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism's "Travel Agency Electronic Itinerary Filing System." Simultaneously, Beijing Travel Agency B, which organized a tour of the Forbidden City for 12 tourists, also failed to complete the group information registration procedures in the electronic itinerary filing system. Based on the relevant provisions of the "Beijing Tourism Regulations," the Beijing Municipal Cultural Market Comprehensive Law Enforcement Team imposed an administrative penalty of 5,000 yuan on each of the two travel agencies.

Case 8: Travel agency's commission fee was lower than the service cost.

In June 2026, a Beijing-based travel agency organized a tour for 35 tourists to Gannan and Linxia prefectures in Gansu Province. The agency outsourced the group's reception services to a Gansu-based travel agency, but failed to pay the agreed-upon fee to the Gansu ground handling agency. This resulted in the Gansu ground handling agency not carrying out the subsequent tour itinerary, leading to tourist dissatisfaction and complaints. This constituted a breach of contract where the organizing travel agency paid the outsourced agency less than the cost of reception and services. Based on relevant provisions of the "Travel Agency Regulations," the Changping District Cultural Market Comprehensive Law Enforcement Brigade of Beijing imposed an administrative penalty on the travel agency, confiscating its illegal gains of 23,250 yuan and ordering it to suspend operations for one month.

Case 9: Tour guide operating a travel agency business without a license, privately accepting tour bookings and leading groups.

In July 2026, tour guide Sun, without obtaining a travel agency operating license or being appointed by a travel agency, privately accepted a tour of the Mutianyu Great Wall for 27 tourists through referrals from previous visitors. He provided services such as itinerary arrangement, transportation, ticket purchase, meal arrangements, and guided tours, charging a service fee. His actions constituted operating a travel agency business without a license and privately soliciting business as a tour guide. Based on the relevant provisions of the "Tourism Law of the People's Republic of China," the Huairou District Cultural Market Comprehensive Law Enforcement Brigade of Beijing imposed an administrative penalty on the tour guide, fining him 55,800 yuan, confiscating his illegal gains of 9,280 yuan, and temporarily suspending his tour guide license for 90 days.

Case 10: Travel agency arranges for unqualified personnel to act as tour leaders and lead groups.

In November 2025, a Beijing travel agency organized a tour to Hong Kong and Macau for 41 tourists. Zhou, who lacked a tour guide license and was not qualified to provide tour leader services, was assigned to lead the group. This constituted an illegal act by the travel agency of arranging for an unqualified person to provide tour leader services. An investigation revealed that the travel agency had previously been administratively penalized for similar violations, marking a repeat offense within two years. Based on relevant provisions of the "Tourism Law of the People's Republic of China," the Dongcheng District Cultural Market Comprehensive Law Enforcement Brigade of Beijing imposed an administrative penalty on the travel agency, fining it 30,000 yuan and confiscating 1,200 yuan of illegal gains. The responsible personnel were also fined 1,000 yuan each.

Case 11: Travel Agency's False Advertising and Misleading of Tourists

In October 2025, a customer service representative from a Beijing travel agency made a false promise to a tourist, Mr. Zhang, during a tourism promotion campaign on a social media platform: "Paying a 100 yuan deposit will lock in the current price, unaffected by price increases during the summer season." After Mr. Zhang arrived in Beijing, the travel agency denied the previously promised tour fee, threatening not to sign a contract or arrange subsequent itineraries without payment, and then demanded an additional 3,000 yuan. This constituted false advertising and misleading of tourists. Based on relevant provisions of the "Tourism Law of the People's Republic of China," the Shijingshan District Cultural Market Comprehensive Law Enforcement Brigade of Beijing imposed an administrative penalty of 10,000 yuan on the travel agency and 5,000 yuan on the responsible personnel.

Case Twelve: Online travel operator's promotional content contained harmful information.

In May 2026, a Beijing-based online travel platform failed to fulfill its primary responsibility for content review. Its promotional information, using tourism as a pretext, included ulterior motives, disseminating erroneous statements and harmful information to attract traffic, without taking any measures to stop or remove the content. An investigation revealed that the platform had been administratively penalized twice before for similar violations and had promised rectification and site-wide screening, but the problems persisted, indicating a serious offense. Based on the "Interim Provisions on the Administration of Online Travel Services" and related laws and regulations, the Beijing Municipal Cultural Market Comprehensive Law Enforcement Team imposed an administrative penalty of 1 million yuan on the platform and a fine of 100,000 yuan on the directly responsible supervisor. (Source: China.com)