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The National Tourism Administration recently announced that five tourism industry standards, including "Requirements for the operation and service of third-party online trading platforms for travel agency products" and "Service requirements for travel agency service outlets", were approved and will be implemented from July 1. Among them, the first new regulation is the first regulation of online tourism business services, and has a strong pertinence to the management of the current online tourism chaos, so it has attracted much attention.
In what ways does the new regulation regulate the operation of online tourism? Does the regulation have corresponding measures for the "mixed" of tourism companies on the Internet, the difficulty of safeguarding rights when tourists choose online tourism services when disputes arise, and the leakage of user information? What impact will it have on the future of online travel? Interviews were conducted on these issues.
"Unregistered" enterprises find it difficult to establish themselves
China's online travel market has grown rapidly in recent years, creating a number of online travel companies such as Ctrip, Qunar and Tuniu.com. At the same time, many travel agencies have gradually expanded their business to online, and the official website has become an important way to attract customers. More and more tourists are also getting used to inquiring relevant information on the Internet, booking product lines, and making corresponding evaluations. "The online tourism industry is of positive significance in promoting China's construction of a modern service industry and giving consumers more choices." Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, first affirmed the positive significance of online tourism companies, but pointed out that there are also some problems. "Some companies publish some false travel information on the Internet, and some are suspected of violating the Tourism Law and the Travel Agency Regulations."
Browsing the tourism websites, we often see "Hong Kong X day tour, only $999" and other promotional words, the price is attractive, but there may be hidden consumption traps. In addition, some websites have false information, and even some unqualified "black travel agencies" and "black guides" are also "fishing in troubled waters" online. Once there is a dispute, consumer consumption safety is difficult to guarantee, compensation is difficult.
"In this case, we first face a question of defining responsibility, is it the responsibility of the publisher or the responsibility of the publishing platform?" Dai Bin said. The new rules, which came into effect on July 1, have made clear the classification, transaction process, basic requirements for operation, basic requirements for services, and requirements for travel agencies of third-party online trading platforms for travel agencies.
According to the new regulations, "(third-party online trading) platforms shall obtain industrial and commercial business licenses, telecommunications and information service business licenses, complete the filing of operational websites, and publicize relevant information in a prominent position on the main page of the website", "shall conclude entry and operation contracts with cooperative travel agencies, and supervise the travel agency products and related information released by travel agencies." "A credit evaluation system can be established to conduct credit evaluation and management of travel agencies, and the credit rating evaluation system should be publicized in advance and provide tourists with credit rating inquiry services." These regulations have provided a guarantee for further standardizing online tourism operations and safeguarding the rights and interests of consumers, and have also made it difficult for "unregistered" enterprises to gain a foothold.
Keep transaction information for 3 years as a basis for rights protection
According to XX consulting data, in 2013, China's online tourism market transaction scale reached 220.46 billion yuan. According to the survey of Chinese Internet Users' Travel and Leisure Life and Outbound tourism Consumption, the middle-aged and young people with high education and high income have become the main online consumers with travel habits. Their travel methods tend to be networked and self-service, and 75% of Internet users will choose online transactions for travel consumption.
"XX" is one of the 75%. As an independent photographer and travel expert, "XX" has traveled to 27 countries on her own. Around 2010, he began to plan his journey online, and dealing with various travel websites became a regular part of his travels. "Sometimes I travel alone, sometimes in a group with a few friends." In this process, "XX" found many imperfections in the travel website.
"Last year, I made an appointment with a few friends to go on vacation to Sanya and buy products through a travel website, and several others entrusted me with full control. So I signed up for all seven of them." "XX" said, "Although it is very convenient and saves time, it also has hidden dangers." For example, the travel agency to undertake only one participant's real name information, the travel website only signed a travel contract with me, there is no guarantee that every tourist recognizes the terms agreed in the contract. It will be difficult for my friend to defend his rights in case of an accident or dispute."
In this regard, Dai Bin stressed that tourists must sign a contract to buy tourism products through the website. General formal online travel websites also have a variety of options in the way of signing: online signing, fax signing, door-to-door signing or store signing. According to Article 10 and 11 of Chapter II of Contract Law of the People's Republic of China, electronic contracts signed online have the same legal effect as paper contracts.
The new regulations also have corresponding requirements for information and data services of online tourism companies. "The data of the parties to the transaction on the platform shall be stored for no less than three years from the date of their last login. Searchable transaction data is kept for a period of not less than 3 years from the date of the transaction." In this way, if there is a dispute after the consumption of tourists, there is a basis for rights protection.
Preventing information leakage is a long way to go
Recently, there has been widespread criticism of the leakage of tourists' information when they book or purchase travel products online.
In March this year, the vulnerability reporting platform "XX" published a message on its official website, pointing out that a large number of Ctrip users' bank card information leaked. The leaked information includes: cardholder name, cardholder ID card, bank card category, bank card number, etc., endangering the security of user payment. Some industry sources said that this matter "may affect the online tourism industry." Other problems, such as the disclosure of user contact information and purchase records, are also widespread.
"It's really a problem for tourists." Dai Bin admitted in an interview with this newspaper, "But we should also see that this does not only exist in online tourism companies, but also in Internet companies in other areas, such as shopping." Preventing information leakage is an issue of network supervision, involving many departments, and it is difficult for the tourism department to solve it on its own. It needs the coordination of Internet supervision departments, financial supervision departments and public security departments."
