The results of a survey on tourism satisfaction in 2011 have been released today, with Suzhou, Ningbo and Xiamen ranking the top three.

Dai Bin, the head of the China Tourism Academy, introduces the survey on tourism satisfaction in 2011.

“Based on our data, the tourist satisfaction index has stopped dropping and began to go upwards. It bottomed out in the first quarter of last year, with only 75 points out of a total of 100 points. But it has reached more than 80 points in the third quarter.”

The survey shows that members of tour groups show more satisfaction than individual travelers. Dong Xiang, vice-president of overseas tourism department of China International Travel Service, explains.

“Tour groups use less shopping and self-funded activities than before. Generally speaking, we want our products to suit high-end customers. This will decrease the number of tourists’ who complain about shopping or self-funded activities in tour itineraries.”

The China Tourism Academy also ranks the country’s tourist destinations, with Suzhou, Nibong, Xiamen, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Wuxi, Guilin, Huangshan, Beijing and Shanghai as the top ten cities. And the bottom ten are Hefei, Zunyi, Hohhot, Chengde, Sanya, Urumqi, Fuzhou, Nanchang, Qinghuangdao, and Yan’an.

Dai Bin with the China Tourism Academy says local tourism departments should pay close attention to these results and think about how to improve their services.

“Among the bottom ten cities, there are provincial capitals and hot tourist destinations like Sanya. If the tourists have been complaining about these popular destinations for a long time, the local governments should think about the reasons.”

Citizens’ satisfaction with tourism overseas declined compared to the year 2010. Due to tourists’ high expectations of foreign destinations, the satisfaction index of overseas tourism is lower than that of domestic tourism. Chinese people are more satisfied with their trips to Japan and European countries than the ones to the United States. Singapore, Germany, Malaysia, Japan and the UK rank as the most satisfying countries abroad to visit.

According to the survey, things tourists complain about most are public service, shopping, accommodation and transportation. Dai Bin says some tourist agencies still make shopping compulsory, which can make the tour group members angry. What’s worse, tourists are not satisfied with the complaint resolution mechanism.

“For tourists, the complaint resolution is not timely. Most of the time, they don’t get an answer after they log a complaint. Or they don’t know with whom they should log the complaint. The situation is even worse for tourists who don’t join a group.”

Experts say the survey provides some clues for local governments to further develop. The top ten cities are good examples for other tourist destinations.

SOURCE: CRI English