Youtube video. Click to see the Tudou video

Chinese tourists have long been making their way to Hong Kong for their shopping trips, taking advantage of the lower tax rates on luxury items in Hong Kong. But a video has emerged of a Hong Kong tour guide going on a tirade of how her tour group of Chinese travelers are required to shop that threatens to undermine that so far amicable relationship. 

Although the video itself isn't much to watch, in this undated clip, you do hear the tour guide, according to the Wall Street Journal, saying: “Spend more, you’ll be happier… don’t tell me you don’t need [to buy more], next you’ll be telling me you don’t need to eat at meal time. I will lock you out of your hotel rooms because you don’t need them [either].” 

The video has hit a nerve in mainland China. It is reported that Hong Kong guides make deals to guide mainland Chinese tourists toward expensive stores in exchange for a percentage of sales. 

According to statistics reported in The Global Times, The Hong Kong Travel Industry Council received 173 complaints from mainland tourists between January 1 and May 15, 2010, an increase of 65 percent from the same period last year. Almost all of them related to shopping tourism, "particularly over forced shopping disputes," stated the Global Times article. 

People have posted strong reactions to the video on YouTube and Tudou, reports Hong Kong’s The Standard newspaper, with one Chinese netizen attesting to the frequency this happens. “This video is a reality for mainland tourists in Hong Kong!”

Although the tactics might be a bit underhanded, the numbers of Chinese tourists going abroad are feeding many of these schemes.

Chinese travelers spend billions

According to the Financial Times, the number of Chinese tourists traveling abroad last year increased 5.2 percent to 42.2 million, up from less than 7 million in 2001. Not only are people traveling in mass, the Chinese are spending as they go. Total spending of Chinese tourists outside of mainland China rose 16 percent from 2008 to about US$42 billion in 2009. 

Of these travelers, two thirds of them went to Hong Kong or Macau, intending to shop.

"You have an odd situation where a great many outbound tour operators are breaking even or losing money until you factor in commissions for shopping,” says Guy Rubin, managing partner at Imperial Tours in Beijing to the FT. “That means tours usually have to fit in sightseeing between visits to five shops a day."

Hong Kong travel advisory issued

Regardless of the numbers of Chinese tourists going to Hong Kong, the video has set off a wave of anger in China. 

“The mainland has good tourist spots all over, why not just not go to Hong Kong?” asks one Chinese netizen in a comment on Youtube where the video was posted. Although one video will not take down the mainland-Hong Kong tourist industry -- especially because so many Chinese go to Hong Kong to shop to avoid China’s high tax on luxury goods -- this is the kind of language the Hong Kong Travel Industry Council would prefer to avoid.

China's National Tourism Administration is also getting involved, issuing an advisory on travel to Hong Kong due to this video.

With such a strong reaction from mainland China, the Hong Kong Travel Industry Council says, “We will find out who the female tour guide in the video is and punish her.” And it has pledged to “improve conditions for tourists.” Part one of this plan is the new “Code of Conduct for Tour Guides” that the Council’s official website says will come into effect as soon as this week.