"Multi-level" tourist services have become popular in Vietnam, cheating people out of money and causing harm to the \'brand\' of the country.
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| "Multi-level" tourist services have become popular in Vietnam, cheating people out of money and causing harm to the \'brand\' of the country. |
"Bonus tourism" is a method of selling travel packages to people who are willing to set down a deposit, promising them kickbacks for the number of people they can convince to join them.
These marketing programmes often recruit people through seminars, where participants are instilled with hopes for both travel and profit, which they will likely never see.
Like a true pyramid scheme, these services rank their clients on different levels, depending on how many packages they can sell to others.
These activities have spread nationwide, but are especially prevalent in places such as Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Nam Dinh, Quang Tri, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Easy money
In many cases, \'bonus tourism\' is just a way for these companies to make quick money through fraudulent promotions.
One programme, advertised on the internet, claimed that for a deposit of USD400 the participant would receive a trip, plus a 15% commission, if they could recruit five other people to join. This particular advertisement attracted a large number of people, including many students.
The commissions would add up to hundreds of dollars, and would also offer a chance to travel to foreign countries.
This type of scheme is not new, but has only been introduced to Vietnam in recent years. In 2010 a US-based firm started offering this type of \'bonus deal\' through the internet in Hanoi.
The initial deposit is supposed to cover the rooms at luxury hotels, and the participant is given an online account, where they can track their \'bonuses\' from the other people they have convinced to join.
Despite a number of such fraudulent cases being discovered, the trend seems to be continuing to spread, with companies are offering larger and larger bonuses.
Tighter regulation
Vu Xuan Thanh, Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the inspection agency discovered up that 3,325 people paid a total amount of USD1.2 million to join a network of multi-level tourism service in one Vietnamese company in the period spanning from January to April 2011. The company transferred USD717,000 to a firm abroad via an account in Hong Kong. But they only organised one tour, with 50 people, to Hong Kong.
Many of the promised tours never materialised for participants. It is a clear sign of fraud. But Vietnam does not currently have adequate regulations to deal with such cases, creating a loophole for companies to take advantage of unsuspecting \'customers\'.
Thanh added that, the Vietnam National Tourism of Administration has made a proposal to the Ministry of Public Security that they cooperate to deal with this type of scam, which would include a programme to educate people about the risks.
