Travel agencies that offer one-day trips must list clear itineraries and prices in the contracts they give travelers to sign, and cannot use the listings as mere references, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday.
While travel agencies must sign contracts with travelers before the start of a trip, regardless of its duration, to ensure that the rights of both parties are protected, some one-day tour operators allow people to join tours as late as when the tour group gathers at MRT stations or other transport hubs, without requiring that they sign a contract, the ministry said.
The standardized contract for one-day tours, which took effect yesterday, was stipulated as an increasing number of Taiwanese seek to spontaneously join one-day tours.
The standardized contract lists the rights of travel agencies and tourists, as well as ways to settle disputes, it said, adding that tourists must be given a copy of the contract they signed along with a receipt for tour fees.
The date, means of transportation, and departure and return locations should be clearly stated in contracts provided by agencies, the ministry said.
The contracts should inform tourists that fees do not include their personal expenses and list items that they must pay on their own, including tips for tour guides, as well as fees that the agencies pay in advance to service providers, but later reclaim from group members.
Travel agencies should also state in their itineraries if there would be shopping stops during the tour, the ministry said.
The contracts should not contain statements such as “the listed tour arrangements serve only as a reference” or allow agencies to ask travelers to pay more than agreed upon before the tour, it said.
Should people ask to cancel their contract before the trip without a legitimate reason, they must pay all fees and a compensation, and are not allowed to request a refund, the ministry said.
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