The National Tourism Administration has recently issued a document to support the legalization of tips in the tourism industry i

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问题         The National Tourism Administration has recently issued a document to support the legalization of tips in the tourism industry in China. Some believe tips are necessary, as tour guides in China are paid much less than they deserve, but others doubt the effectiveness of tips in helping boost tour guides’ incomes and worry that it will increase tourists’ traveling costs. The following are opinions from three media.
        Write an article of NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should:
        1. summarize briefly the opinions from both sides;
        2. give your comment.
        Zhang Fengyi (Xi’an Evening News)
        Amid various disputes and inconveniences existing in the tourism industry, the state hopes to make tip payment a system that will encourage tour guides to provide better services when they have higher and more stable incomes. However, whether this will really happen is quite doubtful. Anyway, tips are only desserts after a dinner, not the main course. Besides, we in China don’t have the tradition of paying tips. Most consumers believe, after paying a certain amount of money to the travel agency, they deserve to be well served. They resist paying tips.
        When tips are given on free will, tourists can choose to pay or not. Once tips become a system, tourists will have to pay tips, or their tour guides will make the journey uncomfortable for them. Besides, possibilities remain that apart from collecting tips, some tour guides may continue to force tourists to shop.
        Therefore, before tips are legalized, a pay system for tour guides is necessary to ensure them a basic income and a decent life. Only when these worries no longer exist can tips truly play a role of encouragement.
        Song Guifang (www.xinhuanet.com)
        We have to realize that tour guides in China are struggling with their wages and social security falling far behind the rapid development of the tourism industry itself. If tour guides can expect payment that shows respect to their services, we can expect an overall improvement in the tourism industry.
        In China, the public treats tips as an extra payment for certain service items, and thus there is resistance to tips. Given the conditions tour guides are now in, tips actually act as a kind of compensation to them, rather than bonuses. It sometimes happens that when we want to go to certain places to know more about local customs and scenic spots, we can’t find a qualified tour guide. It’s time to think of a way to make tour guides feel that their work is respected and that they don’t need to exploit tourists to make a living. The legalization of tips may help solve the problem to some extent, but in the long run, we need to explore a new model for the sustainable development of the tourism industry.
        Zhu Dazhi (China Youth Daily)
        We worry that the legalization of tips will make a voluntary payment a compulsory system, adding to the cost of traveling. This worry is not groundless.
        The Chinese society is not used to the practice of giving tips, and now it is planned that a system is to be set up to force people to give tips. This is not what tips are invented for. The priority now is not to push forward the tip system but to regulate and develop the tourism industry into a healthy sector and to let tour guides earn a payment that is at least equal to their work. When the tourism sector embraces sound development, even without a compulsory system, tourists tip the guides that offer them good services.
        Shu Shengxiang (Beijing Youth Daily)
        Ideally, tips are paid to show respect and gratitude. In Western countries, although customers can choose to pay or not, giving tips has long been a common practice.
        The current salary system in China’s tourism sector is such a mess that a large number of tour guides don’t have base pay or basic insurance. A percentage drawn from the sum tourists pay for souvenirs during the trip has almost become a major income source of tour guides. Forcing tourists to shop has become a hidden rule in the tourism sector, which has seriously damaged tourists’ traveling experience and affected the long-term development of the tourism industry. It is against this backdrop that some travel agencies and local governments begin to seek to set up a tip system in the tourism industry, with the intention of dragging this industry out of the vicious cycle.
        If tour guides can make money by asking tourists to buy souvenirs, they are likely to offer quality services on this precondition. However, once they are forbidden to accept kickbacks from shops and instead depend on tips, which are usually much lower than the brokerage given by souvenir shops, the service quality may deteriorate. Besides, it’s quite possible that the guides will be comfortable with those who have paid them tips, while at the same time they will be harsh to those who have not done so. As a result, something supposed to be based on free will become compulsory.

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答案 Legalizing Tips in Tourism Industry: Neither Fair nor Effective The National Tourism Administration has recently issued a document to support the legalization of tips in the tourism industry in China, which sparked a hot debate on whether tips should be legalized in the tourism industry or not. Supporters believe that legalizing tips will help solve the long-standing problem of forcing tourists to shop and thus improve consumers’ experience. Tips will also make tour guides feel their work is respected. However, opponents believe that legalizing tips would lead to unfair treatment of tour guides to consumers who pay tips and those who don’t. They also express concern that tips are usually much lower than the kickbacks tour guides get from shops so tips will not help alleviate this serious issue. I believe that tips should not be legalized in the tourism industry. Firstly, it is not fair to legalize tips only in tourism industry. Those who work in other industries in the service sector provide quality service to consumers as well and deserve the same amount of respect and gratitude from consumers as those who work in tourism industry do. Therefore, it is not fair to legalize tips only in tourism industry but not in other industries of the service sector. Secondly, legalizing tips is not an effective solution to the wrong conduct of getting kickback from shop by forcing tourists to shop. The reason for tour guides to do this is that they are not fairly paid by their employers. As people do not have the habit or the mindset of giving tips in China, tour guides will get less from tips than they do from continuing the wrong conduct of getting kickbacks. It is not hard to predict which choices tour guides will make. Therefore, it is not fair to legalize tips in tourism industry but not in other industries of the service sector and this does not represent an effective way to end the wrong conduct plaguing the industry.

解析         国家旅游局近日发布文件支持旅游业小费合法化(the legalization of tips)。材料围绕这一话题给出不同媒体的网民意见。新华网的网民认为这一做法在一定程度上有助于解决当前的旅游业问题(help solve the problem to some extent),因为这能让导游感到被尊重(their work is respected),减少导游利用游客(exploit tourists)谋生的行为,改善游客的出行体验。然而,大部分网民都持反对意见。
        反对者认为解决当前旅游业的矛盾和种种不便,关键是保障导游的基本收入(basic income)和让他们过上体面的生活(decent life)。在这个前提下,小费才能真正发挥它的激励作用(encouragement)。否则,小费合理化将存在以下弊端:对于游客而言,首先,由于中国没有给小费的传统,游客会拒绝给小费(resist paying tips),那么导游可能不会为他们安排舒适的旅行甚至强制购物;其次,小费合法化将增加旅行成本(adding to the cost of traveling)。对于导游而言,小费合法化之后他们则不能收取回扣(are forbidden to accept kickbacks),但小费通常比回扣费低得多(much lower)。
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