Hong Kong, China told to ban ‘zero-dollar’ tours

Retailers should improve customer service and create unique experiences to stay in the game.

Hong Kong should outlaw so-called zero-dollar tours — notorious for price-gouging, forced shopping, and boring tours — if it wants to regain its iconic status as Asia’s shopping paradise, analysts said.

“The solution lies in self-regulation within the tourism industry, as well as legislation from both the source market (Mainland China) and the destination (Hong Kong), to penalise illicit or outlawed business practices,” Yong Chen, an associate professor at EHL Hospitality Business School, told Hong Kong Business.

The tours, which carry a ridiculously low price tag and force tourists to buy stuff at partner retail stores that provide…