Tourist support central to scupper scammers

04/07/2013 04:18
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(Hanoitourist) - Foreign tourists visit Hoi An Ancient Town in central Quang Nam Province. Tourist support centres will be set up in key tourism destinations to help prevent tourism scams. 03-ho-tro-khach-du-lich

Deputy PM Nguyen Thien Nhan has ordered local People's Committees to set up tourist support centers to help prevent tourism scams.

Key tourism destinations such as Ha Noi, HCM City, Khanh Hoa Province and Quang Ninh Province should be the first to do so, he said.

The move was made following reports by some localities about cases of tourists being overcharged, robbed or swindled by local services, including Ha Noi, HCM City, Quang Ninh, Thanh Hoa, Da Nang and Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

These scams give visitors a negative impression of the country.

At a recent online meeting with tourism experts to discuss strategies to stop scamming, Nhan said the support centres would receive urgent calls and take quick action where necessary.

Tourism experts agreed that scams and overcharging were the main reason for a decline in foreign tourists.

Statistics from the National Steering Committee on Tourism showed that Viet Nam welcomed nearly 3 million foreign tourists in the first five months of 2013, down by 1.4 per cent year-on-year.

Nhan also ordered relevant agencies to collect information and cases in which tourists were scammed, particularly foreign tourists.

(VNS)