China News Service, April 27. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism held a regular press conference for the first quarter of 2026 on the 27th. At the meeting, Hou Zhengang, director of the Market Management Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said that the effectiveness of the implementation of forced shopping control will be linked to the rating of tourist attractions.

Hou Zhengang introduced that in recent years, the "cultural tourism craze" has continued to heat up, and "poetry and distance" have become an important source of people's happiness and sense of gain. However, illegal activities such as forced shopping occur from time to time in some areas, infringing on tourists' legitimate rights and interests, disrupting market order, and affecting the high-quality development of the tourism industry. In order to better protect the rights and interests of tourists and provide everyone with a safe, secure and comfortable travel environment, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Security, the State Administration for Market Regulation and other departments, will carry out centralized rectification work on forced shopping in tourist markets nationwide starting from 2025. Some results have been achieved, but there is still a long way to go to meet the needs of the masses. In 2026, relevant departments will continue to deepen the centralized rectification work. The main work measures are as follows:

First, highlight "iron-fisted governance" and severely crack down on violations of laws and regulations. We will maintain a high-pressure and crackdown posture, insist on striking at first sight, and strike hard. Focusing on the four types of entities: travel agencies, travel shopping stores, tour guides, and online travel platforms, we will focus on rectifying false propaganda, purchase-to-support travel, layer-by-level subcontracting, and irregular signing of travel contracts, and deeply rectify illegal operations such as unlicensed operations and forced shopping. For problems such as criminals using threats of violence to force transactions and defrauding tour group fees, we will increase joint and centralized handling of cases, and supervise the handling of key cases that seriously infringe the legitimate rights and interests of tourists and seriously disrupt market order, and investigate them to the end. Timely exposure and centralized rectification of typical cases and dishonest subjects shall be carried out, social supervision shall be strengthened, and effective deterrence shall be formed. Culture and tourism, public security, market supervision and other departments work closely together to resolutely correct chaos in the tourism market and form a high-pressure situation.

The second is to highlight the "people's feelings" and handle tourism complaints in a timely manner. After people complain about problems, they hope to be resolved as soon as possible. The handling of complaints is directly related to tourists' rights and travel experience. On March 15, 2026, the newly revised "Measures for Handling Tourism Complaints" was officially implemented, improving the complaint jurisdiction regulations to facilitate tourists to lodge complaints nearby; significantly shortening the time limit for handling complaints, making tourists' rights protection more efficient and faster. Recently, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has successively conducted interviews with provinces where complaints about forced shopping in the tourism market are concentrated, and requires the jurisdictions to keep a close eye on online travel companies, travel agencies and shopping venues with a large number of reports and complaints, investigate and sort out typical and common problems that are prone to occur, such as forced shopping and unauthorized changes to itineraries, conduct in-depth analysis of the root causes, come up with practical solutions, and strive to solve one type of problem by doing one thing well.

The third is to highlight "source prevention and control" and continue to purify the online market environment. Illegal solicitation and false propaganda online seriously disrupt the market order and destroy a healthy competitive environment. We adhere to source control, strengthen administrative guidance and interviews, and carry out special rectification actions for illegal online solicitation in conjunction with the cyberspace department. We strictly require online travel platforms to comprehensively clean up illegal online solicitation information, "screen" products and related strategies and notes, strictly implement subject responsibilities such as verification and registration, promptly clean up illegal online solicitation social accounts, guide platforms to regularly announce illegal merchants and substandard products, and effectively combat illegal online solicitation.

The fourth is to highlight "service improvement" and continue to optimize scenic spot management. Adhere to the coordination of construction and governance, focusing on hardware and software construction with one hand and order management with the other. Guide scenic spots to strengthen opening management and continuously enrich the supply of high-quality services in tourist spots. The local departments of tourist attractions are required to strengthen the management of shopping venues inside and outside scenic spots, and urge business units to clearly mark prices and operate in compliance with the law. The effectiveness of compulsory shopping management is linked to the rating of tourist attractions. Strengthen the review and management of the quality level of tourist attractions, notify scenic spots with relatively concentrated tourism-related complaints, and require rectification within a time limit; those who have chaotic market order and poor rectification will be punished and delisted if they should be punished.

The fifth is to highlight "comprehensive supervision" and enhance departmental coordination. Deeply implement the relevant requirements of the "Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Further Strengthening Comprehensive Supervision of the Tourism Market" and continuously strengthen the effectiveness of collaborative supervision. The State Administration for Market Regulation has jointly revised the new version of the model text of the group travel contract, which will be promoted and used nationwide from March 31 to standardize the contract content and signing process, further strengthen the constraints on shopping activities and separately paid travel projects, prevent disputes, standardize order, and protect rights and interests. Cultural tourism, public security, market supervision and other departments will work closely together to form a working structure of information sharing, joint investigation of clues, and joint handling of cases.

Hou Zhengang emphasized that in the next step, we will combine prevention and prevention, treat both symptoms and root causes, zero tolerance, strict supervision, and investigate to the end based on the key issues raised by the masses’ complaints and reports, and strive to create a standardized, orderly, safe and high-quality tourism market environment so that everyone can travel with confidence and feel comfortable.