At the end of the year, especially when a series of incentive programs, promotions, and discounts for holidays and Tet are launched by many businesses and retailers, there are often many "tricks" to scam people and tourists. In order to limit risks for customers and increase brand awareness, tourism and travel businesses in Ho Chi Minh City have issued a number of warnings and solutions to protect customers' rights.
International visitors learn about Ho Chi Minh City. Illustration photo: Hong Dat/VNA
According to representatives of some tourism and travel businesses, at times when market demand is high and purchasing power increases, cases of tourist fraud appear more often than normal times. Common tourist fraud cases appearing on the market include impersonating brands, advertising fake cheap tours, doing advertising tasks, etc. Subjects often grasp the psychology of customers who need to find tourism information, so they use all kinds of tricks to defraud and appropriate customers' finances and interests. Many people, because of their gullibility, have become victims of increasingly sophisticated fraud tricks, leading to loss of money and personal information.
On the other hand, bad guys also use many forms of advertising and marketing on social networks to imitate brand names, similar colors... to offer domestic and international tours at "virtual" prices and "fake" products and services. Many people also set up groups to impersonate many travel and tourism businesses to contact customers and tourists at home and abroad through many direct or indirect forms. This leads to serious consequences such as customers having their deposits stolen, being lured into using this cheap promotion to buy other products...
Viet Tourism Media Joint Stock Company has announced a phenomenon of profiteering with bad intentions causing damage to the reputation and customers of the Company and the community during the peak season at the end of 2023. Bad guys use many forms of offering tours to Japan at a price of 6,999,000 VND/customer, with a 6-day itinerary. There are cases where customers receive contracts with full information, grave stamps, signatures... from other units but use the Company's logo.
Recently, the Ho Chi Minh City Police Investigation Agency had a meeting with the City Department of Tourism Inspectorate regarding the reflection of the Ho Chi Minh City Printing Association on the European Union Tourism Company Limited (EU Tourist) receiving more than 1.2 billion VND in tour money but not fulfilling its obligations, affecting the rights of a group of 64 MICE (tourism combined with conferences) guests. Although it does not have an international or domestic travel business license, EU Tourist still organizes tours for a number of domestic and foreign tourist groups, and at the same time promotes information on the website eutourist.vn and the fanpage named eutourist.vn with images of tourists holding EU Tourist flags, taking souvenir photos at some famous destinations.
Regarding the issue of risk prevention for residents and tourists, Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, said that the Department is coordinating with relevant departments and sectors to review the business activities, passenger transportation, tax payment, etc. of a number of tourism and travel businesses that show signs of violating legal regulations. Regarding the case of the Ho Chi Minh City Printing Association and EU Tourist, the Department Inspectorate is coordinating with many relevant parties to resolve it in accordance with legal regulations.
From a business perspective, Mr. Pham Anh Vu, Communications Director, Viet Tourism Media Joint Stock Company, recommends that people and tourists, when searching for or registering for tourism products, should carefully research the tour program and services, including and not including what is included or not included. Next, customers should choose to book tour products, book rooms, and book airline tickets from reputable companies; at the same time, they can ask the company to show them the business license and legal documents related to the travel agency they want to buy the tour from.
Regarding the request to transfer a deposit to hold a seat, Mr. Pham Anh Vu added that if possible, people and tourists from both inside and outside the country should make direct payment transactions at the headquarters of the travel agency, and be vigilant against cases of collecting money at public places such as restaurants, cafes, etc. Customers must proactively contact the official phone number, e-commerce channel, social networking platform, etc. of the travel agency to verify product and service information before booking a tour.
In case of detecting signs of fraud, customers need to report to the authorities for guidance on how to resolve the issue and ensure their legitimate rights. For the purchase and sale of travel packages, especially travel, cheap airline tickets... on social networking sites, people should choose reputable social networking sites or find out information about the supplier or seller. Customers who confirm the information and detect signs of fraud must report to the authorities for timely guidance on how to resolve the issue.
According to Baotintuc.vn
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