A person sits in a field in China's Yunnan province, a photo by Italian photographer Enrico Barletta. [Photo/IC]

A TRAVEL AGENT in Southwest China's Yunnan province posted a notice saying that it was not accepting bookings from residents from certain places. Beijing News commented on Thursday:

The travel agent said that bookings from tourists from Henan and Hunan provinces in Central China and Guangdong province in South China could not be accepted because there are no discounted tickets for flights from these areas. It is obviously not true as the airlines are not discriminating against passengers from certain provinces. If the airlines were to selectively choose their customers in such a way, they would be violating the law.

The bias against people from these provinces visiting Yunnan is due to their relative reluctance to spend money during their trips. Or because they are troublemakers in the eyes of the travel agents because of past complaints.

In contrast, people from the northern areas are more welcome due to their "generosity". Travel agents also classify them into different levels, according to the experience of the travel agents, tour guides, and the shop owners conspiring with the travel business dealers.

When the tour guides take the tourists into a shop, they have usually made a deal to split the money spent by the tourists. The hidden rule is the deeply rooted problem in the travel business, reflected in the profit-driven industry practice.