Intermediate agencies that illegally run outbound tourism businesses will be investigated and severely punished, China's top tourism official vowed over the weekend.

Efforts will be made to bring the outbound tourism market into order across the country, said He Guangwei, head of the State Tourism Administration. He made the remarks at a national conference that opened on Saturday in Guilin, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in South China, on fighting illegal activities in the tourism trade.

The efforts are part of a nationwide campaign against illegal activities discovered in the tourism sector in the second half of this year.

Local tourism departments will complete inspections of the service locations of tourism agencies by the end of September, He said.

Locations which do not hold enough certificates, which have not registered or offer services beyond what is permitted will be shut down.

By the end of September all the managers of agencies all over the country are expected to be registered and agencies that fail to employ enough managers will not pass the annual tourism agency inspection.

The campaign also includes a crackdown on false advertisement of tourist services and illegal tour guides.

Poor management of tourism agencies and inadequate services offered by tourism guides will be rectified.

According to He, the number of tourism agencies that organize tours for Chinese people to go abroad has increased to 528 from the 1997 figure of 67. With the enlargement of the market, some of them started to violate regulations.

For example, some of the agencies do not implement the contracts they sign, and force tourists to purchase things and add services that run up the tourists' costs.

He said as a business system for outbound travelers is being formed in China, it does not matter if several agencies are deprived of the right to do the business.

( China Daily July 29, 2002)