Tourism Industry Regulatory Board refers 8 cases of forcing tourists to shop to Department of Justice for consideration of criminal prosecution

The Tourism Industry Regulatory Board has referred 8 cases suspected of forcing tourists to shop to the Department of Justice for consideration of criminal prosecution. The Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau said in a written reply to a legislative question that the Board had conducted over 10,000 focused inspections of registered shops receiving tourists for shopping on a cumulative basis, averaging 3,300 a year. One registered shop was suspended from registration for 30 days for failing to use its best efforts to stop a tour guide from forcing tourists to shop. Since the beginning of this year, 15 online advertisements involving unreasonably low-priced tours and 31 suspected cases of non-compliance have been reported to mainland authorities.