Tragedy shows weak risk awareness

THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND TOURISM has instructed all online travel platforms, tourism enterprises, and travel agencies to carry out emergency investigations to check the safety of all the services or activities they offer tourists. Beijing News comments:

The boat tragedy in Thailand, which killed 41 Chinese tourists and left 11 still missing, has undoubtedly exposed the lack of risk awareness of tourism service providers and managers.

Despite the local marine police issuing a warning to boats of the severe sea conditions, the two boats that were eventually swamped by the rough seas still continued with their sailing plan.

The accident could have been avoided, if the staff of the travel agencies on the spot had canceled the trip as many others did. Even the loss of life would have been less, if the passengers were wearing life jackets and informed of what to do in the event of an emergency.

All travel agencies and providers of tourist services should draw lessons from the accident. There must be risk assessment, warning and emergency mechanisms in place to minimize the potential risks.

It is convenient now to look for an online travel agency to arrange a trip with simply a few taps on a smartphone. But that does not mean the dangers and uncertainties associated with trips can be discounted, especially when the online travel agencies focus more on securing a deal than preparing for worse-case scenarios.

It is necessary to highlight the responsibility of the online travel agency platform, and urge it to establish a risk management system so it can identify, analyze, evaluate and warn tourists of the potential risks that tourists may encounter.

Also tourists should bear in mind that even though a destination may be popular, that does not necessarily mean it is free of dangers. Tourists should be aware of the risks associated with any activities or services they may be considering.