Industrial Practice or Unethical? You decide
Hello all. I think I haven't been blogging for very long now. I know, being busy is no excuse. Haha. I was just plain lazy.
The sudden resurgence of the blog has come down to mainly 2 factors:
1. I suddenly have this amount of time because I over-estimated the time needed for an assignment.
2. I have a very small request. That you guys(and girls), who after reading this entry, help to answer some questions that I have in store for all.
Ok, so to the real purpose and the main issue today. Currently, I'm doing a module that is mostly about (un)ethical practices in the business world. The one industry that I would like to focus today is the travel industry.
Well, I think most people would have at least travelled once in their lifetimes, be it to London or Batam. Most of the times when we want to travel in a country where we do not know the local culture well, we turn to travel agencies for group tours. A trip down to Chinatown, where most of the travel agencies are located can easily get you (best) deals for tours. However, I think many of us have encountered the issue of the real cost not being reflected on the itinerary most of the time. Well, many a time these agencies have said that airport taxes, fuel surcharges, hotel seasonal charges not being reflected in the itinerary are standard industrial practices. Well, I have no qualms with these issues as I feel that the price stated on the itineraries are marketing strategies that are used to attract customers.
However, one thing that I cannot fathom is the non-mention, or at times, brief mention of the "optional" tours that are not included in the itineraries. Often, these tours are organised by the local tour guides and the tour agencies in our country have no control over what the local tour guides in the other countries do. There have been many cases in which tourists feel that they have been "compelled" and "pressured" into paying for these optional tours that add almost no value to the original tour, leaving a sour taste in their mouth. The tour guides apply duress by giving sloppy or sub-standard service to those who are reluctant to pay for the optional tours, thus pressuring other tourists to go for the optional tours. Of course, there were those where the tourists came off feeling satisfied but these are the minorities. The main issue here is that, is it ethical for the local tour guides to conduct such optional tours by coercing or applying duress to the tourists, themselves being able to earn more?
I personally had been in such a situation before. I personally feel that the behaviour of the local tour guides should be monitored by the Singaporean tour agencies because the behaviour of these tour guides can easily put people off and not many would dare to sign up tour packages with the tour agencies again.
Have any of you encounter such incidents? Are there other issues that you face with travel agencies? I would like to hear it from all. Thank you.
The sudden resurgence of the blog has come down to mainly 2 factors:
1. I suddenly have this amount of time because I over-estimated the time needed for an assignment.
2. I have a very small request. That you guys(and girls), who after reading this entry, help to answer some questions that I have in store for all.
Ok, so to the real purpose and the main issue today. Currently, I'm doing a module that is mostly about (un)ethical practices in the business world. The one industry that I would like to focus today is the travel industry.
Well, I think most people would have at least travelled once in their lifetimes, be it to London or Batam. Most of the times when we want to travel in a country where we do not know the local culture well, we turn to travel agencies for group tours. A trip down to Chinatown, where most of the travel agencies are located can easily get you (best) deals for tours. However, I think many of us have encountered the issue of the real cost not being reflected on the itinerary most of the time. Well, many a time these agencies have said that airport taxes, fuel surcharges, hotel seasonal charges not being reflected in the itinerary are standard industrial practices. Well, I have no qualms with these issues as I feel that the price stated on the itineraries are marketing strategies that are used to attract customers.
However, one thing that I cannot fathom is the non-mention, or at times, brief mention of the "optional" tours that are not included in the itineraries. Often, these tours are organised by the local tour guides and the tour agencies in our country have no control over what the local tour guides in the other countries do. There have been many cases in which tourists feel that they have been "compelled" and "pressured" into paying for these optional tours that add almost no value to the original tour, leaving a sour taste in their mouth. The tour guides apply duress by giving sloppy or sub-standard service to those who are reluctant to pay for the optional tours, thus pressuring other tourists to go for the optional tours. Of course, there were those where the tourists came off feeling satisfied but these are the minorities. The main issue here is that, is it ethical for the local tour guides to conduct such optional tours by coercing or applying duress to the tourists, themselves being able to earn more?
I personally had been in such a situation before. I personally feel that the behaviour of the local tour guides should be monitored by the Singaporean tour agencies because the behaviour of these tour guides can easily put people off and not many would dare to sign up tour packages with the tour agencies again.
Have any of you encounter such incidents? Are there other issues that you face with travel agencies? I would like to hear it from all. Thank you.
