A so-called "Duty-free" shop in Australia. (Photo/Xinhua)
The number of Chinese tourists traveling to Australia has been climbing over the past few years. For the 12 months of 2015, 1 million Chinese tourists visited Australia making for a new record high. Shopping overseas has become a new trend for Chinese tourists.
However, instead of going to big shopping malls in Australia, Chinese tourists can be mostly spotted in small "duty-free" stores especially opened for them.
"Duty-free" shop targeting at Chinese tourists even labels products in Chinese. (Photo/Xinhua)
After investigation, journalists found that tourist agencies in Melbourne and along the Gold Coast had built chains of interest with local stores. Tourist agencies are in charge of inducing Chinese tourists into specific stores they have cooperations with, and work to stop them from comparing products prices with other shops.
An insider has disclosed that some of the shops would even tailor their prices according to the consumption capability of Chinese tourists. Australian products like lanolin cream and fish oil in these shops usually price several times more expensive than the same products in other regular stores; woolen goods like snow boots that are being sold in these “duty-free” stores were actually made in China yet labeled as “Made in Australia” to fool the Chinese customers.
A so-called "Duty-free" shop is completly empty at ordinary times. (Photo/Xinhua)
A Chinese lawyer in Australia suggests to Chinese tourists to report about referral selling to the Fair Trade Association of the local state after they experience unpleasant and unfair shopping experiences so that these fallacious trading behaviors can be eventually prevented.
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