On April 26, a group of 160 elderly tourists from Jingzhou, Hubei, were abandoned at a service area, sparking widespread attention on the internet.
According to videos shared by tourists from Jingzhou, they had fully paid for a group tour organized by Beihai Feiyang Travel Agency. However, the bus driver claimed he had not received the fare and left the 160 elderly tourists at Zhangzhuangpu Service Area. Despite having paid the full amount for the tour, the driver unexpectedly abandoned them midway. The driver’s justification was that he had not been paid, while the tourists insisted they had already paid in full.
Reportedly, the 160 elderly tourists had registered for a 7-day tour of Hunan and Hubei through Beihai Feiyang Travel Agency and had paid the full fee. During the trip, the bus driver stranded the tourists at Zhangzhuangpu Service Area for up to 5 hours, citing non-payment of the charter fee by the local agency.
The head of Beihai Feiyang Travel Agency stated, “We are a tour group organizer. We arranged for 160 people to travel in Hunan and Hubei and handed the group over to Shenzhou International Travel Agency in Hunan for ground services. The other travel agency has not paid the bus driver, and we are unable to contact them. We have advanced more than 40,000 yuan to pick up the passengers and continue the remaining itinerary.”
The responsible person also mentioned, “We have already reported the incident to the police and the local government and tourism bureau. The other travel agency has acted very irresponsibly.”
The incident of “160 elderly people abandoned at a service area as part of a tour group” on April 28 has attracted widespread attention on social media.
Netizens commented that “similar incidents frequently highlight the longstanding problems in the tourism industry such as subcontracting chaos and inadequate supervision of advance funds. Travel agencies often shift risks, obscure contract terms, and avoid responsibilities.”
“This incident exposes two major hidden dangers in the tourism industry: first, the disjointed responsibility chain. While tour organizers are responsible for the entire service, if the ground service agency defaults or faces financial issues, the rights of tourists are still at risk. Second, weak supply chain supervision results in cost disputes among drivers, travel agencies, and suppliers being directly passed on to consumers.”
“The incident of 160 elderly tourists being stranded in Jingzhou, Hubei, reveals the deep-rooted issues in the ‘subcontracting’ model of the tourism industry. The separation of responsibilities between tour organizers and ground service agencies makes consumers direct victims of disputes. Especially for the elderly group with weaker rights protection capabilities, there is a greater need for systemic safeguards. The ground agency’s disappearance, driver’s suspension of services, and other chaos in the incident indicate lax scrutiny of qualifications and inadequate supervision of funds in the industry. The public calls for strengthening regulations on subcontracting behaviors of travel agencies, establishing advance fund supervision mechanisms, and preventing economic disputes from being borne by tourists.”