The market demand from both Chinese agencies and Chinese tourists give the Korean travel agencies opportunities to scramble for customers using kickbacks.
"The fierce and irrational competition in South Korea's tourism industry has led to cut-throat competition," the Crip travel specialist said.
Xing noted that South Korea has to compete with Japan for Chinese tourists.
"Just based on the number of flights we book in recent days, Japan is a more popular destination than South Korea for Chinese tourists," Zhang Wu'an, spokesperson of Shanghai-based Spring Airlines Co, told the Global Times on Friday.
About 5.98 million Chinese tourists visited South Korea in 2015, down 2.3 percent year-on-year due to the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, while 4.99 million Chinese tourists visited Japan in the past year, an all-time high thanks to a weaker Japanese yen, cankaoxiaoxi.com reported on February 17.
The seemingly cheap cost of some trips also brings some unpleasant travel experiences to Chinese tourists.
"The South Korean travel agencies will earn their money back in the end and Chinese tourists will ultimately pay the price," Zhu Linlin, media manager of the Korea Tourism Organization in Beijing, told the Global Times on Friday.
The South Korean travel agencies only break even when each Chinese tourist spends at least 1.5 million South Korean won ($1,350) at the travel agencies' contracted shops, according to the people.com.cn report, which cited a South Korean industry insider. This is why South Korean travel agencies require their tour guides to take Chinese tourists out shopping at so many places.
The 20-person tour group from Harbin was taken to shopping malls six times during their two-day trip to Seoul.
According to a tour schedule for a five-day trip to Seoul that the Global Times received on Friday from a small Chinese travel agency in Harbin, Chinese tourists have to visit six stores and have to stay at each store for more than 50 minutes.
This travel agency charges 1,860 yuan for each Chinese tourist.
"You yourself can decide whether or not to buy anything, but you must enter the stores," Li Nan, a staff with the Harbin travel agency, told the Global Times on Friday.
However, there can be consequences for tourists who don't open their wallets.
"The local tour guides will be unhappy if you don't buy anything, and poor service will follow," said Xing from the Quyou agency.
Supervision needed
Cut-throat competition can lead to disorder in the tourism industries in both South Korea and China, Zhu noted.
The biggest victim of the practice is South Korea's national image.
"This will give foreign tourists a false impression of South Korea and hurt its attractiveness as a destination," the Ctrip travel specialist said.
"Fewer tourists will lead to less tourist income," Xing said. "For many travel agencies like ours, we also appeal for benign competition. Below-cost price competition makes us unprofitable. Numerous complaints may also arise due to poor travel experiences."
South Korean authorities have recently taken steps to regulate the country's tourism market.
South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on March 27 it had revoked the licenses of 68 domestic tour operators. The authority said the companies lured Chinese tourists to buy cheap tour packages and hired unqualified guides.
Zhu noted that this move showed the South Korean government's determination to curb the unhealthy competition in the industry.
But some people worry that the South Korean government will not do enough because fewer tourists from China means less tourism income for South Korea.
About 45.2 percent of the foreign tourists who visited South Korea in 2015 come from China, according to media reports.
But Xing said the government has to strengthen supervision over the industry "or it will do greater damage to the country's image," he said.
