Tour crackdown pleases Rotorua

Rotorua tourism operators are pleased with a plan to crack down on shonky and cheap Chinese tours to New Zealand.

Some Chinese tourists' trips are being tightly controlled by tour guides running cheap tours, causing the visitors to leave New Zealand dissatisfied.

Some of the Rotorua stories include tour groups:

* Paying to see Kuirau Park in the city centre, which is free, and being told they are at Te Puia.

* Paying to walk in the Redwood Forest, also free.

* Only being allowed to shop at outlets that pay commission to their guides.

Those running the tours are also rumoured to lack proper tour guide qualifications, work permits or bus driving licences.

A Rotorua souvenir shop owner has told the Daily Post newspaper that a rock was thrown through their window by Chinese tour operators angry that the store advertises its prices in the window - allowing tourists to see better deals than they are getting through commission shopping.

A recent summit in Shanghai attended by representatives from the Government, the Australian tourism industry, airlines and the New Zealand Chinese tourism industry heard how the price of Australian and New Zealand group tours had fallen from $3660 to $2600 in the past five years.

Itineraries have been cut back and the amount of commission shopping increased to boost revenue.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton said Chinese tourists had little or no knowledge of what to expect and their decision to visit was often based on price.

Tourism New Zealand would tighten up inbound operators' compliance requirements and better promote New Zealand in China, he said.

Other recommendations include:

* More research on the satisfaction of Chinese groups, to highlight areas for improvement.

* Encourage law enforcement agencies to increase compliance surveillance work in the tourism sector, particularly in areas relating to tax, the workforce and land transport.

- NZPA