China: China releases new national standards to improve service quality, boost high-quality development of tourism.

China's National Standardization Administration has released new national standards aimed at elevating service quality and accessibility across the tourism industry. These standards involve travel agency services for elderly tourism, barrier-free services in hotels, smart operations of tourist attractions, and service quality at shopping venues. They are designed to meet the diverse needs of all travelers, including the elderly, people with disabilities, pregnant women, infants. The new elderly tourism standards emphasize safety, comfort, and convenience, focusing on age-friendly full-process design with relaxed pace, ample rest, and customized itineraries based on seniors' health, without mandatory health checks as a participation barrier. China has nearly 500 million people with mobility limitations. The new standard will benefit this group by addressing common challenges they face when traveling, such as poor accessibility, difficult-to-use facilities, and lack of accessible information. For shopping, a top concern for many tourists, the updated service quality standards for tourist shopping places require all goods to have complete qualification certificates that are verifiable, clearly priced, with counterfeit or high-imitation branded products strictly prohibited. Regarding smart operations, the new standards require that tourist attractions strengthen risk early warning and data security for visitor information and payments. Shotlist: Beijing, China - Recent: 1. Plaque of China's National Standardization Administration; Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, southwest China - Recent 2. Various of crowds of tourists at scenic sites; FILE: Hunan Province, central China - May 2, 2025 3. Various of tourists; FILE: Yunnan Province, southwest China - 2026 4. Various of tourists at railway station; China - Recent 5. Various of barrier-free hotel facilities. [Restrictions: No access Chinese mainland]