Tourism Law of the People's Republic of China

Chapter I General Provisions Article 1 This Law is formulated for the purpose of protecting the legitimate rights and interests of tourists and tour operators, regulating the order of the tourism market, protecting and rationally utilizing tourism resources, and promoting the sustained and healthy development of tourism. Article 2 This Law shall apply to tourism activities in the form of sightseeing, vacation and leisure, as well as business activities providing related services for tourism activities within and outside People's Republic of China (PRC). Article 3 The State shall develop tourism, improve public tourism services and protect the rights of tourists in tourism activities according to law. Article 4 The development of tourism should follow the principle of integrating social benefits, economic benefits and ecological benefits. The state encourages all kinds of market players to make rational use of tourism resources according to law on the premise of effectively protecting tourism resources. Tourist attractions built with public resources should reflect public welfare. Article 5 The state advocates a healthy, civilized and environmentally friendly tourism mode, supports and encourages various social institutions to carry out tourism public welfare propaganda, and rewards units and individuals that have made outstanding contributions to promoting the development of tourism. Article 6 The State shall establish and improve standards of tourism services and market rules, and prohibit industry monopoly and regional monopoly. Tourism operators should operate in good faith, compete fairly, assume social responsibilities, and provide tourists with safe, healthy, hygienic and convenient tourism services. Article 7 the State Council shall establish and improve a comprehensive tourism coordination mechanism to comprehensively coordinate the development of tourism.

The local people's governments at or above the county level shall strengthen the organization and leadership of tourism work, clarify the relevant departments or institutions, and make overall coordination on the development, supervision and management of tourism within their respective administrative areas. Eighth tourism industry organizations shall be established according to law, and self-discipline management shall be implemented. Chapter II Tourists Article 9 Tourists have the right to choose their own tourism products and services, and have the right to refuse the compulsory trading behavior of tour operators.

Tourists have the right to know the real situation of the tourism products and services they buy.

Tourists have the right to ask tour operators to provide products and services as agreed. Article 10 The personal dignity, national customs and religious beliefs of tourists should be respected. Eleventh disabled people, the elderly, minors and other tourists enjoy convenience and preferential treatment in tourism activities in accordance with laws, regulations and relevant provisions. Twelfth tourists have the right to ask for help and protection when their personal and property safety is threatened.

Tourists who have suffered personal or property damage have the right to compensation according to law. Thirteenth tourists should abide by social public order and social morality, respect local customs, cultural traditions and religious beliefs, cherish tourism resources, protect the ecological environment, and abide by the code of conduct for tourism civilization. Fourteenth tourists in tourism activities or in the settlement of disputes, shall not harm the legitimate rights and interests of local residents, shall not interfere with other people's tourism activities, shall not harm the legitimate rights and interests of tourism operators and tourism professionals. Fifteenth tourists in the purchase and acceptance of tourism services, tourism operators should truthfully inform the personal health information related to tourism activities, and abide by the safety warning provisions in tourism activities.

Tourists should cooperate with the measures taken by the state to temporarily restrict tourism activities in response to major emergencies and the safety precautions and emergency measures taken by relevant departments, institutions or tour operators.

Tourists who violate the safety warning regulations or do not cooperate with the measures taken by the state to temporarily restrict tourism activities, safety precautions and emergency measures in response to major emergencies shall bear corresponding responsibilities according to law. Sixteenth outbound tourists are not allowed to stay illegally abroad, and tourists who leave the group are not allowed to join or leave the group without authorization.

Inbound tourists are not allowed to stay illegally in China, and tourists who enter with the group are not allowed to leave the group without authorization. Chapter III Tourism Planning and Promotion Article 17 the State Council and local people's governments at or above the county level shall incorporate tourism development into their national economic and social development plans.

The State Council and the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, as well as the people's governments of cities and counties rich in tourism resources, shall organize the formulation of tourism development plans according to the requirements of the national economic and social development plans. When making use of tourism resources that are suitable for overall utilization across administrative regions, the people's government at a higher level shall organize the compilation or the relevant local people's governments shall negotiate the compilation of a unified tourism development plan. Article 18 The tourism development plan shall include the overall requirements and development objectives of tourism development, the requirements and measures for the protection and utilization of tourism resources, the requirements and promotion measures for the development of tourism products, the improvement of tourism service quality, the construction of tourism culture, the promotion of tourism image, the construction of tourism infrastructure and public service facilities, etc.

According to the tourism development plan, local people's governments at or above the county level can make special plans for the development and utilization of key tourism resources and put forward special requirements for tourism projects, facilities and service functions in specific areas. Nineteenth tourism development planning should be linked with the overall land use planning, urban and rural planning, environmental protection planning and other natural resources and cultural relics and other human resources protection and utilization planning. Twentieth people's governments at all levels should fully consider the spatial layout of related tourism projects and facilities and the requirements for construction land when compiling the overall land use planning and urban and rural planning. The planning and construction of transportation, communication, water supply, power supply, environmental protection and other infrastructure and public service facilities should take into account the needs of tourism development.