Cabinet issues warning over 'zero dollar' tour subsidiesTAIPEI -- The government will cancel subsidies to tour agencies serving the domestic market if they are found to offer customers "zero dollar" tour packages, Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said on Thursday. A "free-of-charge" tour group, also called a "zero dollar group," refers to a group in which participants pay little or nothing to participate. To make up the cost of organizing such tour groups, the travel agencies also take customers shopping at stores from which they receive a payment. These tour packages have been criticized for their general low quality and the damage they are causing to the travel sector through unfair low-price competition. The Tourist Bureau confirmed that it has recently received reports from tour agencies about operators promoting domestic tour packages that require no tour fees to boost customer numbers.

Source: The China Post December 01, 2016 17:58 UTC