The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it has conducted secret inspections into recent allegations of forced shopping, with findings confirming that such practices exist on some level among tourism packages there.
The city hired several foreign nationals to pose as tourists in seven low-priced package tours – three that were sold in China and four sold in Vietnam – to check the programmes’ quality.
Most of the packages focused more on shopping than tourism, which the city government’s agents said hindered them from enjoying Seoul’s history and culture.
Each package included four to eight visits to shopping malls, and many products sold there did not clearly state the country of origin or date of manufacture.
It was reported that tour guides treated the tourists differently depending on how much they spent on shopping, and had recommended purchasing items on several occasions.
On one occasion, the guide prevented tourists from exiting a shopping mall for 40 minutes until one bought something.
In contrast to the extensive shopping schedule, tour programmes were brief and often cancelled.
In one case, a host did not provide an alternative programme after the tour of Seoul Forest was cancelled because of rain, forcing the tourists to spend time at the hotel.
Based on the recent findings, Seoul vowed to crack down on forced shopping in tourism packages while pursuing legal actions against low-quality programmes if necessary. — The Korea Herald/ANN
