Two New South Wales tourism operators have been suspended from organising Chinese tour groups to visit Australia after breaching an agreed code of business standards and ethics.
The Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson AM MP, and the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, said today two companies were suspended from the Approved Destination Status (ADS) scheme, a bilateral agreement between Australia and the People’s Republic of China which facilitates the travel of organised tour groups from China to Australia.
Honey Trading Pty Ltd and Ai Hua International Travel Pty Ltd were found to be in breach of the ADS Code of Business Standards and Ethics during regular compliance monitoring activities by the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism.
The businesses have been suspended from the ADS scheme for a period of three months for tourism quality issues, taking effect from 18 June.
To comply with the ADS Code of Business Standards and Ethics, tour operators are required to ensure integrity, competition, fair trading and immigration compliance in the inbound Chinese tour market.
“The Chinese market is worth $2.8 billion to Australia’s tourism industry. The ADS Scheme not only helps to facilitate travel from China, it helps our Chinese visitors have a positive experience in Australia so they tell their friends and family and return again and again.” Minister Ferguson said.
Australia and New Zealand were the first western countries to be granted ADS status. Inbound tour operators must be approved by the Australian Government to operate in the ADS scheme. Approved operators agree to abide by the ADS Code of Business Standards and Ethics.
“The Australian Government is seen by the Chinese government as a model ADS partner. Suspending non-complying operators sends an important message to the market about how seriously we treat our tourism industry and how we value our Chinese market. ” Senator Evans said.
According to the Tourism Forecasting Committee (TFC), visitor arrivals from China are forecast to increase 13.3 per cent in 2010 (compared to 2009), to 417 000. Over the longer term, arrivals are forecast to increase at an average annual rate of 7.9 per cent to 761 000 in 2018.
For further information on the ADS Scheme visit www.ret.gov.au.