“Tour Guides Buy Travel Groups” phenomenon is the external manifestation of prominent conflicts of China’s Tourism at the specific historical stage, and is closely related to problems disturbing the order of the industry, such as the “zero or minus tour fee”, rebates for tour guide, malignant price war and other problems rooted from the “high-rebate business mode” of tourism - that is, in China, when running the group tourism products business, travel agencies obtain high rebates through tourists’ shopping and secondary consumption, and the “tour guides buy travel groups” is one of important forms of “high-rebate business mode”.

The phenomenon of “tour guides buy travel groups” has its own specific historical characteristics, that is, with the macro context of China’s economic and social transformation, the phenomenon is very prominent and grows in many hot tourist areas, disturbing the travel order, seriously affecting the tourists’ satisfaction and damaging the labor rights of practitioners as a chronic illness of the industry. During the industry research, we note that the “high-rebate business mode” in tourism represented by “tour guides buy travel groups” not only has diverse patterns of manifestation, but also expands rapidly in space. Besides Beijing, it has become a common phenomenon in national hot cities with local guide services. Through the empirical research on Zhangjiajie, Kunming and other hot tourist areas, we found that the “tour guides buy travel groups” is a realization mode of “high-rebate business mode” in China’s travel industry. With the development of tourism, the phenomenon of “tour guides buy travel groups” continues to expand geographically, and has formed a solid short-term equilibrium in the tourism, and has become lawful in administration and operation to certain extent. Although the phenomenon has seriously harmed consumers’ well-being and the tourism rebate issue has become the focus of public opinions, this non-standard operation mode continues to show us with its indomitable vitality, it constantly adjusts, consolidates, coordinates and improves itself and has finally become entrenched as the mainstream business mode in China’s tourism.

The facts in the industry propose the mission and question for the academic research, “tour guides buy travel groups” phenomenon is not simple nor shallow, but a comprehensive and profound problem related to the foundation of business mode in Chinese contemporary travel agencies, and is even one of the most important problems in the development of China’s contemporary tourism; the research in this area is helpful for recording and answering specific and practical problems of China’s contemporary travel agencies, and providing theoretical reference and management recommendations for industrial practices.

The “Research on the Countermeasures to the Phenomenon of “Tour Guides Buy Travel Groups” Sponsored by Beijing Tourism Administration has provided a opportunity for the systematic understanding of the subject and the exploration of the practical solutions, and can play an exploring and leading role for solving the national and industrial problems.