CHIANG MAI - Northern tour operators have spoken out against the government's move to quell zero-dollar tours, warning that budget Chinese travellers might turn to neighbouring countries instead for their holidays.
They took their stand at a meeting of the Chiang Mai Tourism Business Association on Thursday.
Chiang Mai was connected by direct flights to nine Chinese destinations where people had different financial resources, association chairman Pornchai Jitnavasathian said.
Any move to axe zero-dollar tours and services could result in low-end Chinese visitors, who use 2-3 star services, disappearing from Chiang Mai. They could decide to visit Laos and Myanmar instead, he warned.
Ending zero-dollar tours could also obstruct attempts to promote new tourist destinations in the northern province, he said.
Authorities were planning to introduce a minimum tour package price to discourage zero-dollar tours, but members of his association believed setting official commission rates for souvenir shops, tour firms, service parlours and operators at tourist destinations would be more practical, Mr Pornchai said .
Operated mostly by Chinese nationals, zero-dollar tours involve packages priced below cost to lure budget travellers to Thailand. Once here, the tourists are coerced into buying overpriced goods and services, often including lewd entertainment, from firms with links to the tour operators.
There have been reports of tour group members who refuse the additional payments being abandoned in the middle of the trip.