Travel agency suspended for coercing Chinese tourists into shopping

SEOUL, May 15 (Yonhap) — A travel agency in South Korea has been suspended for coercing Chinese group tourists to shop during their visit to the country, officials said on Wednesday.

According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, a Chinese traveler who used the unnamed company filed a complaint with a tourism inconvenience complaint board in February about the agency’s practice of coercive shopping.

During an investigation, tourism authorities found the company’s problematic practices and imposed a one-month suspension. It was subsequently learned that the company had leased its name to an unnamed travel agency to handle duty-free shopping programs, leading to the final decision to cease operations.

It was the first time that the government stopped the operation of a travel agency due to such practices. In 2016, regulations were passed to penalize travel agents for disorderly conduct in the travel industry.

The number of Chinese tourists visiting South Korea in the first quarter reached 1.01 million, ranking first in inbound arrivals among all countries.