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3 August, 2023

“Do you have any professional ethics?” Chinese agency accused of using women as “bait” on tours

Fenghuang, China - September 23, 2017: Tourists walking along Phoenix Ancient Town (Fenghuang County). Awesome view of scenic old street. Fenghuang is a popular tourist destination of Asia.

A woman took to social media to accuse a Chinese travel agency of using women as bait to lure male travellers looking for romance on their tour.

In Chengdu, the provincial capital city of Sichuan province in Southwestern China, the woman posted on Chinese social media site Xiaohongshu with screenshots of her WeChat conversation with the sales representative where he mistakenly regarded her as a male customer, the South China Morning Post reported.

The woman was asked what date she planned to depart to which the woman replied: “Any date in early August would be fine. I need to discuss it with my friend.”

The man then responded, thinking that she was a man: “There are two beauties signed up on August 3, one born in 1989 and the other in 1991.”

In a follow up message he wrote: “There are also two females on August 2. However, they are too old and may not satisfy your appetite.”

The woman was outraged and suspected the travel agency was using female travellers as “bait” to sell tours to single Chinese men.

“Do you think this is funny?” she told the sales representative. “Do the two girls know what you said? You are trying to make money from them while also using them as a tool to attract customers. Do you have any professional ethics?”

But as to how the staff member responded in the transaction is unclear from this point.

The post gained widespread traction on social media, leading the agency owner to say there had been a “misunderstanding” due to the staff member only speaking the dialect in Sichuan province.

“This sales representative is Sichuanese; there may have been a communication problem. We have never used female tourists to solicit customers,” the agency said in a statement published by Feidan Video.

The agency went on to post an apology:

This behaviour was the employee’s personal conduct and does not represent the company’s values. The employee has now been dismissed and the full amount of performance bonus has been deducted.

“Internal training management will be strengthened, and visitor supervision is also welcome,” it said.

But this didn’t go down too well with online observers.

“Does the travel agency really believe its own excuse?” one commented.

“I have lived in Sichuan for many years and I have never seen someone explain, ‘Don’t satisfy your appetite’ in such a way,” said another commenter.

This incident spurred concerns about the sexual harassment of female travellers in China.

A Hangzhou woman said she experienced harassment from a tour guide in October 2019. The guide claimed the woman had flirted with him, saying “she often smiled at me.”

A female teacher encountered a similar situation in August 2019 when travelling in Mount Emei.

Featured Image: Tourists walking along Phoenix Ancient Town – Fenghuang County (iStock/efired)

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