NANCHANG, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Tourists who were victims of scams during their travels to the city of Shangrao, east China's Jiangxi Province, will find it easier to recoup losses as a compensation fund was initiated Tuesday.
The 10 million yuan (1.59 million U.S. dollars) fund is jointly set up by governments of all levels of the city and covers all kinds of tourism-related disputes in several areas such as catering, hotels and shopping.
Governments of the counties and districts under the city are required to allocate 500,000 yuan to the fund every year. A claim settlement center was established to manage the fund and offer a one-stop service.
The fund has already been piloted in some places in the city such as Wuyuan county, a popular tourist destination known for its beautiful coutryside.
A tourist bought some herbal medicine at a tourist site in the county for 4,900 yuan in November, but found it was counterfeit and called the local tourism complaints hotline.
After conducting an investigation, the local authorities paid back the tourist before the seller agreed to return the money.
The county has tackled over 20 cases such compensation, involving a total of more than 30,000 yuan, according to Wang Hui, an official in charge of the joint law enforcement in tourist service in Wuyuan County.
As China is seeing a tourism boom, more efforts are needed to curb unfair service in the industry.
Li Ruifeng, an official with the Shangrao Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, said the city was considering cooperating with insurance companies to better protect tourists.
Shangrao boasts abundant tourist resources. The city hosted 159 million tourists last year, up by 30.3 percent from the previous year.
Nationwide, more than 5 billion trips were made last year, with the revenue estimated at 4.57 trillion yuan, a 69-percent jump from 2012.
