During the Lunar New Year holidays, a tour guide and two mainland tourists came to blows over shopping. The news was widely reported here and on the mainland. It was also reported that, before the holiday period, the Guangdong authorities began to send undercover agents posing as tourists to Hong Kong to monitor tour leaders and crack down on rogue guides.
The latest case was branded a 'tourism scandal' by the mainland media. State broadcaster CCTV claimed the incident brought shame on the city's international image as a shoppers' paradise while mainland netizens launched an all-out attack and threatened to boycott Hong Kong as a tourist destination.
But, Hong Kong shouldn't have to shoulder all the blame for the scandal; the mainland authorities as well as those greedy tourists are responsible, too. Since China's economic rise and the launch of the Individual Visit Scheme in 2003, the city has become a premier tourism and shopping spot for mainlanders.
This is understandable because the yuan has continued to surge against the local currency - its appreciation effectively gives them a 15 per cent discount. Another point is that Hong Kong truly offers high-quality merchandise and provides a large variety of choices at bargain prices. And the city's 'No Fakes Pledge' Scheme to guarantee the standard of goods is definitely a big confidence booster. That's why Hong Kong is not only a place to buy luxury brands; it is also a good place for affluent mainlanders to buy daily necessities such as baby formula.
Many mainland travel agencies offer incredibly cheap tour packages to Hong Kong. The tour group in this case was not a so-called 'zero-cost tour group' as it charged 1,700 yuan per head. But after they reaped big profits on top of outsourcing charges and commissions, there was not much left for the Hong Kong agent.
Even worse, some local tour companies reportedly pay to 'buy' tour groups from their mainland agents, aiming to make money from shop commissions. Some of them even own or operate retail shops selling jewellery, electronic goods and watches. So, bringing mainland tourists to their shops is their main line of business. This so-called 'selling and buying' of tour groups for profit is banned by the central government.