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Today we are going to discuss some potential Travel scams in Tibet. Tibet is generally a very safe place for travellers to visit. We have a stringent code of conduct under the guidance of the Tibet Tourism Bureau. And the Majority of Local Businesses in Tibet are very kind and honest.
But there are few things travellers might need to be aware of while planning for Tibet’s trip. These scams happen only once in a blue moon. But precaution is always better than cure.
Hacked email.
The majority of the local travel agency in Lhasa, Tibet, don’t really know much about technology. Special when it comes to the Internet and Computer-related technology. This is why many of their websites and emails volatile to hackers. Over a year in our experiences, we often come across many agency websites, and email gets hack and ends up losing lots of money to the hacker.
Here is what usually happens. Suppose an email of a travel agency gets hacked. The hackers will impersonate your tour operator and ask you to send the tour money to his bank account. They will tell you that due to changes in the government policy, the bank account in Tibet can receive your money, or they may also tell you due to the tax evaluation, the bank in Tibet can’t receive your fund.
If you happened to get such an email, We are sure you (travellers) can differentiate the hacker and the travel agency’s real representatives. The most important thing you can do is call your travel agency and confirm the bank details before sending the money.
Travel agencies here in Lhasa lose ten of thousand dollars to the hackers. The best policy is to send only some portion of the money as a deposit. And Pay the rest in Lhasa upon arrival.
Lhasa is now a big modern city. We have lots of ATMs and Bank from Where you can withdraw money to pay to your travel agency.
Skipping attractions
How ever rare it might be, from time to time, we often hear about a guide skipping some attractions to save the money from the attraction fees.
One of the most common practice was taking you to the backside of the Jokhang temple. There is a small temple behind the Jokhang temple, where you don’t have to pay the entrance fees. Some tour guide might take you there, saying that it is a Jokhang temple. So I would be vice to have learn more about the attractions you will be visiting and itinerary you will be following. Some time would vice to make yourself familiarize with the attractions and tour itinerary.
The most important thing to do is choose a travel agent with an excellent online reputation, especially with the trip advisor. There are tons of different ways to find a genuine local Tibetan travel agency online.
Fake Money
Nowadays, the problem of fake money has reduced a lot. But there is some instance where we also get fake money in Tibet.
The highest denomination of RMB (Chinese Yuan) is 100. It is rare to get the fake, but still, you might find your self with one. Over the years, the only incident a client giving me a fake 100 RMB was only once. He happened to get to from ATM in the Hotel in Beijing.
So the best way to get the money from the bank of China ATMs. The best way to identify real banknote is
- You can feel the rough textile over the Jacket and the Hair of the Portrait of Chairmen Mao on all the real currency.
- When you turn the banknote over and touch both ends of the note together, the patterns and lines will match exactly.
- Take a piece of white paper, take any part of the bill and wipe it on the white paper. And you will see the colour of the note transfers to the white paper.
Shopping
The normal practice in Lhasa is if a guide takes travellers shopping. The shop would pay some percentage of the total money you purchase to the guide as the commission. This commission-only adds up to the amount of money you will be paying for the item purchase.
The best practice is to ask the guide to take you to a place to buy things and buy the things you would like to buy later without the tour guide. In this way, you can reduce the price by almost up to half of the asking price.
Fake travel agency in Tibet
There are many claiming to be a local travel agency in Tibet. Many of these travel agencies are fake travel agency claiming to be local Tibetan owned travel agency. Most of these travel agents are not even located in Lhasa. They will offer you a low-quality tour at a lower price. So It is recommended to do some research about these travel agents before confirming your booking and sending the tour deposit and passport copies.
I have been web design consulting for travel agencies in Lhasa for many years as my part-time job. From this experience, I have learned that most of the registered travel agency in Lhasa and Tibet doesn’t have much know-how about selling tours online using Websites.
Cheap low-quality tour in Tibet
I am very sorry to disappoint you by saying Tibet is not a budget destination. Travelling to Tibet is more expensive than in other regions in China. Here in Tibet, we have specific regulations that make it important for all international visitors to require a Tour guide and Private vehicle and a Tibet travel permit. These only add up to your tour expenditure.
Many nonlocal unregistered fake travel agency offers Tours very cheap. With this cheap tour comes a low-quality service like a tour guide how would never show up on time and couldn’t understand any English.
So my advice is to look for a local travel agency, look for any changes to reduce the price like joining a small group tour. Most travel agency in Tibet does offer group tours.
For most travellers, Traveling to Tibet is once is life. So why would you waste these experiences with the cheap tour, which would leave only a bad taste in your mouth?
Deposit Scam
Yes, all the travel agency in Tibet would need to provide the bank receipt of your deposit to make your Tibet travel permit. There is some concern about the Deposit scam in online forums. But keep this in mind by booking the tour with the local travel agency in Lhasa registered with the Tibet tourism bureau in Lhasa to reduce the chances. All the registered travel agency has a business license and the Bank account with a company name.
We are aware of many travel agencies online claiming to be local travel agency, Yet many are not based in Lhasa and Tibet. You might want to be a little careful with such a travel agency.
Sometimes when a travel agency’s email gets hacked, the hacker could ask the traveller to send the deposit to a different bank account. Here, all you need to do is send the money to a bank in Lhasa with the company name as the bank account holder.
Conclusion of Travel Scams in Tibet
Travel scams in Tibet are very rare. But these are a few things I think could happen. So it is advised for all the travellers to check the background of the travel agency in the online review platform like TripAdvisor and Google Reviews. Suppose you contact a local Travel agency in Tibet. I am sure you can avoid most of the above Travel scams in Tibet.
While you are communicating with them, make sure you have more than one means to communicate with them, like WeChat and email, or email and telephone number. All the Travel agency has their phone number on their websites.
Lastly, call your local travel agency once and confirm the deposit’s payment and the Bank information with them.
Our Office in Lhasa
Copy Business Licence for a Travel Agency in Tibet
Tibet Travel Agency recommendation
I want to recommend Tibet Universal Travel and I-Tibet Travel & Tour. These websites are a different site belonging company registered as Tibet Universal International Travel Co., LTD. Honestly, this is the travel agency I work with my partners. Our agency is registered in the Year 1997 with Tibet Tourism Burea and other related government agency. We are one of the oldest travel agency in Tibet. The above image is of our Business License and Office.
You can read more Tibet travel guide from this link or visit our travel agency website: https://itibettravel.com.
