An investigation into cheap travel packages in Seoul found "forced shopping"

A secret investigation by the Seoul city government into recent allegations of forced shopping by tourists in the tourism industry has confirmed a degree of forced shopping in the city's tourist packages.

The Seoul city government hired foreigners posing as tourists to take part in seven cheap tour packages to investigate the quality of the packages, three of which were sold in China and four in Vietnam, The Korea Herald reported.

The survey found that most packages focused more on shopping than tourism, and foreigners posing as tourists said the shopping arrangements prevented them from fully experiencing the city's history and culture.

Each package takes visitors to four to eight shopping centers, many of which sell products without a clear country of origin or date of manufacture.

According to the report, the tour guide will give different treatment to the tourists according to the amount of shopping, and repeatedly recommend various products to tourists. On one occasion, the tour guide even prevented visitors from leaving the mall for 40 minutes until someone had bought something.

Compared to many shopping malls, tourist attractions have short stays and are frequently cancelled.

In one case, after a tour of Seoul Forest Park was canceled because of rain, the tour guide did not provide alternative arrangements and the tourists were forced to stay in their hotel.

The city vowed to crack down on tour packages that force tourists to shop, working hand in hand with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and, if necessary, taking legal action against travel agencies that provide such low-quality packages. However, Seoul city officials stressed that the special investigation only targeted a small number of low-cost tour packages, and not all tour packages were of low quality.