Prime minister orders crackdown on 'zero dollar' Chinese tours

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc ordered the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to tighten management over cheap holidays for Chinese tourists.

Chinese tourists at Tuan Chau International Port

Since early 2015, cheap tour packages are being offered to Chinese tourists and Vietnam is one of the popular destinations for such tours. Chinese tourism firms offer very low tour packages for visitors. Visitors only have to pay for plane tickets and don't have to worry about accommodation or entrance fees to beauty spots.

However, once in Vietnam, they are transferred to another firm. Their stay at hotels are cut short and the meals are cheap. They are also forced to go to overpriced shops or use services of such firms.

Director of Vong Tron Viet Tourism Company Phan Dinh Hue admitted last year that so-called ‘zero dollar tour’ packages are being offered in Vietnam. A number of local tourism firms are supporting these packages. The industry is badly affected as visitors rarely want to return to Vietnam a second time.

According to several experts, zero dollar tour packages are a trick to attract customers into spending a large sum of money on gifts and other services. However, most of the profits are returned to Chinese operators.

Thailand has also cracked down on zero dollar tours which the country claims has led to losses of USD9bn. Three companies were shut down and 2,155 tour buses were seized and arrest warrants have been issued for nine people involved in the tours as of Oct. 6.