Feud escalates as chairman of the travel watchdog is reported to ICAC

Internal strife in the tourism industry stemming from a tightening of regulations by the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong (TIC) against shops with unscrupulous sales practices shows no sign of improvement - as talks between the rebellious shops and the industry's self-regulatory body produced no results on Monday.

Adding to the tension, an industry insider on Monday reported newly elected TIC Chairman Jason Wong Chun-tat to the city's anti-graft watchdog for alleged misconduct in public office.

Despite a fierce response from some industry stakeholders, TIC Executive Director Joseph Tung Yiu-chung stressed that the council, mandated by the government to supervise the industry, would continue its patrols of shopping spots.

The council stepped up its rules on store registry and the Refund Protection Scheme on Jan 1, suspending the registration of shops under investigation by law enforcers for unscrupulous sales practices. This was after such behavior had allegedly contributed to a significant drop in mainland tourists over the past months.

After the death of a mainland visitor last October in a scuffle arising from coerced shopping at a jewelry store, the council intensified inspections. This was met with strong objections, with some shops withdrawing from the council's registry and a "disobedience movement" arising in the industry.

In an attempt to pacify mavericks, the council held a discussion with shop owners to explain the new regulatory conditions. Tung assured those at the meeting that no penalties would be incurred until misconduct was proven.

Despite both sides' efforts to end the feud, Yip Chi-wai, chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Practitioners' Union - which has been behind the disobedience movement and publicly opposed the council's stern stance to put the industry in order - opened another front by lodging a formal complaint against Jason Wong with the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

Yip claimed that Wong, also the director and general manager of Hong Thai Travel, used his position as chairman of the council to promote a special offer tour of his own agency.

Yip alleged Wong's behavior had contradicted the principles of a public organization and had favored his own travel agency. Yip also demanded the council set up a task group to investigate the issue and have Wong suspended.

stushadow@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 01/12/2016 page7)