Forty travel agencies in Harbin have together launched a No Shopping travel service itinerary.

The companies hope to attract tourists during the low season and also appease those travelers who complain that tour guides tend to force them to buy items at souvenier shops.

Most of these travel agencies previously relied on shopping commissions for profit in the low season, which lasts from the end of the National Day Holiday until the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival, but this has displeased the tourists who dislike spending their limited travel time in shopping malls.

The consortium says the new measure has made the tourists reservations double since it was adopted last month.