“I was also cheated by taxi drivers,” says tourism official  "I myself was repeatedly cheated by taxi drivers. I was overcharged three times higher than the normal price," said Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong, Deputy Director General of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), in an interview on the online newswire VNExpress. Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong (photo: Tien Phong). The VNAT’s leaders recently offered an apology to an Australian visitor who was overcharged by a cyclo driver. What do you think about the current situation of cheating against tourists? For years, the acts of cheating and overcharging have affected the image of the country, the people of Vietnam. This situation has increasingly gotten sophisticated and even with gone with high-tech application. The recent cases were exposed thanks to the determination of visitors to clarify and the fierce intervention of the authorities. Thus, the country’s image is no longer distorted in the eyes of foreign visitors. However, we cannot solve case by case. The tourism sector must propose to the government long-term solutions and ask for the combination of related agencies. Many readers said that the tourism industry has not really committed to the tackle the act of overcharging against visitors, what is your opinion? It is incorrect to say that the tourism sector is not determined to deal with the overcharging phenomenon because the tourism sector only has the function of making proposal, not solving that problem. For example, maintaining security is the task of the police and transportation is under the management of the local governments. The Steering Committee on Tourism has placed orders on security requirements, safety, hygiene, and had projects on anti-robbery at tourist sites and projects to combat overcharge in big cities. However, these actions and measures have not been implemented synchronously and thoroughly so negative incidents keep taking place. There are many reasons such as the people’s poor awareness.  We need to improve the legal framework. Currently, the permanent tourism management agency is unclear and it is not the VNAT. We need to have some hot lines for tourists. Some tourism businesses said that they had repeatedly reported of the acts of cheating of taxi drivers at the airports but this situation has not been resolved? When tourism businesses reported incidents, we were based on their reports to ask the authorities to handle. In fact, in many cases they only mentioned the phenomena not showing evidence so it was very difficult to handle. If passengers keep the evidence such as invoices or bills, we will take measures. If passengers accept being cheated and ignore it, then we cannot handle. In Hoi An and Da Nang, which are a small towns, where the local people have been earned their income from tourism stably for a very long time, cheating and overcharging tourists is uncommon. These are good examples. A large number of people in Hanoi and HCM City come from other provinces so it is unfair to make comparison between Hoi An-Da Nang with Hanoi and HCM City. Have you been cheated while traveling? This is not uncommon. I myself have witnessed many times as well and was cheated by taxi drivers. I was charged three times higher than normal fares but I had to pay. We must gradually narrow the gap so the majority of people are not be fooled. However, in each location, at each traveling time the prices are different. The price is high at the time of over demand. Tourists should choose the right time for traveling. State agencies have had plans to prevent the acts of overcharging at tourist site. These plans can only reduce not solve the situation thoroughly. Under the law of supply and demand, many people willing to pay a high price, which is perfectly reasonable in the business. But there are also places where tourist service providers overcharge tourists at the peak time. Many foreign tourists are reluctant to come to Vietnam for overcharging and cheating acts, so what is your advice? Cheating is available in any country. I’ve just been to Italy, a developed country, but there are still robbery and scams and I was advised to be careful. They are different from Vietnam that they make public that problem and give warnings to tourists for their proactive preparation. The government is also in the process. We must also give instruction to visitors. I do not warn visitors about scams, but I advise them to get information on schedules, services, time to go. The visitors who organize the tours themselves often make extensively studies and prepared thoroughly so I believe that we do not have to be worry for them. However, the tourism industry will also promote information about Vietnam and provide information and warnings to tourists for their decision making. Mr. Vu The Binh, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Travel Association, said the association has repeatedly recommended the establishment of tourist police and the recommendation is warmly supported. Tourists are not assured with the protection of the current police forces. There are a lot of police forces but they do not protect tourists.  VNE