The Hong Kong Travel Industry Council (TIC) has no plans to talk to agencies and unions threatening to boycott strict shopping rules, tough sanctions and other contentious issues.

Fury against the self-regulatory body boiled over last month after a group of retailers serving mostly mainland group tourists were warned that their eligibility to receive groups could be terminated if they were "alleged" to have breached the city's consumer protection laws.

Shops were the first to fight back in early December. Lam Siu-lun, honorary president of the Hong Kong Tourism Practitioners' Union and a minor shareholder in travel agency You Li International, said recent expressions of discontent had been contagious.

Mainland group tourists are entitled to offer refunds or exchanges 180 days after purchase. Shops must be approved by the TIC to receive groups, but scores of shops have pulled out this month in protest. They have also filed complaints with the Competition Commission against the TIC for undermining consumer choice.

Lam, a former director in the TIC, said he did not doubt the intentions of the regulations. But he said the industry felt the rules were unfairly penalizing well-behaved players without stopping the misconduct. Lam accused TIC leaders of imposing such rules to merely deal with outsiders' doubts and to serve their personal interests.

Shops were taken off the approved list due to charges that were later tossed out of court, he said. Tour guides had also been made to pay thousands of dollars to the TIC for technical breaches of the rules - such as calling in other guides to take over groups during emergencies.

Lam's partner in the "revolt" is Wong Ka-ngai, chairman of the Tour Guides General Union. They will co-organize a rally next Tuesday. Lam said they could call off the protest if the TIC talked to them.

Wong told China Daily that tour guides had no illusions about the body which is controlled by agency bosses.

They want the government to expedite creation of the Travel Industry Authority, an independent statutory group to replace the TIC's regulatory role. The government earlier admitted that drafting of the relevant laws to do this had been stalled by unforeseen complexities.

TIC Executive Director Joseph Tung Yiu-chung said on Monday that after days of confrontations, the council still had no plans to talk directly to the two most outspoken dissidents. Tung agreed to review the use of words in the shopping rule. But he also said the protest had been backed financially by other people.

kahon@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 01/05/2016 page6)