The National Tourism Administration will officially pilot a freelance tour guide program starting from May, in an attempt to meet the increasing demands of tourists through a two-way selection between tour guide and tourists. An online pilot program will be launched in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces, while Changbai Mountains in Jilin Province, Changsha and Zhangjiajie in Hunan Province, Guilin in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sanya in Hainan Province, and Chengdu in Sichuan Province will pilot both online and offline services.
The pilot program of freelance tour guide service is part of a comprehensive reform of the country's tour guide system, which will tap more job opportunities for tour guides and create a fair and orderly travel market.
Freelance tour guides are able to offer guide services via online platforms and/or offline agencies concerned and will be paid by a third-party payment platform. It is estimated that the program will reduce the number of shopping trips to some degree.
The administration will set up a national unified tour guide supervision platform by the end of May, which will certify freelance tour guide, publish a list of agencies that offer freelance tour guide services, as well as collect information for tour guides and tourists' comments.
Translator: Xiao Juan
Source: Hunan Official Web Portal