01/07/09, 22:24:37 UTC

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Tourists Fleeced By Agents

brudirect.com

Overcharging tourists could dampen Brunei's effort to promote tourism - Sheikh Jamaluddin Sheikh Mohamed, the Director of Brunei Tourism.

Overcharging tourists could dampen Brunei's effort to promote tourism, Sheikh Jamaluddin Sheikh Mohamed, the Director of Brunei Tourism told the Weekend in light of a complaint made by Chinese tourists who claimed to have been charged an extra $80 per individual by a certain travel agent as travel document processing fees.

The tourism chief observed that the travel agent may have had a valid point as to why they charged the extra fee, but if it was only for a visa, $80 was far too much.

However we must first find out why they charged such a high price to process a visa. It could be that there were additional costs they had to cover. However, if they were found to be merely fleecing tourists, then we must take action against them, he said.

The complaint was made by tourists from China who said that they were charged an additional $80 fee for processing their travel documents upon arrival at the Brunei airport, even though they claimed to already having visas prior to entering Brunei.

A Senior officer from Darussalam Holdings told the Weekend that when compared with the cost of a visa, $80 was too much and the matter should be investigated.

She explained that tourist visas could be obtained from the Brunei embassy in China prior to their arrival and if they did not have visas then they must apply for one as soon as they arrive here.

"Usually if we handle a group of tourists using a travel package, costs of visas and hotels are included and the cost of visas does not run that high," she said.

A senior official from the Immigration Enforcement Unit told the Weekend that if tourists want to enter the country they must pay for a visa which may just cost around $20.

He said it depended on the travel agency and how they put together their travel package. But if they only charged them this fee when they arrived here in Brunei, the cost could be higher than $20 because there could be other additional costs as well.

"But since the tourists said they already had the necessary visas prior to coming here then I don't see why they had to be charged again. That is just plain overcharging and it may spell out a bad name for the country's tourism," he added.

A senior officer from another travel agency who wished to comment under anonymity told the Weekend that they usually charged a tourist $100 per person for travel documents if they do not have a visa.

That is $20 for their visa to be stamped and another $80 to cover additional cost.

However, he said if the tourists came in a group package, then they could only charge them $20 per visitor, which is the cost of the visa stamp, and not $80.

But if it is only one or two individuals, then they would usually be charged $100; $20 to get the visas stamped and another $80 to cover cost. He said this is how much it costs here in Brunei, because we need to send someone to the airport and help them get their visas stamped, etc.

However, the whole affair could have been a misunderstanding, especially due to the language problems, he said.

 Printable Version  | published Sep 17, 2007