Is it reliable to find a "partner" online to travel together? Expert interpretation of legal risks | situation | reliable
"I haven't traveled far alone yet, and I want to find a 'travel partner' before the end of summer vacation. Let's go out, eat, play, take photos, and check in together. Recently, Ms. Wang from Jinan, Shandong posted a post on social media searching for a 'travel partner' and successfully found one.". The two of them had a pleasant cooperation, from developing travel strategies, preparing travel equipment, to traveling together.
The so-called "travel companion" refers to people who travel together and share the travel costs equally. A reporter from the Legal Daily recently learned from an interview that "tourism pairing" is currently prevalent, with most participants being young people and students. Many people recognize the benefits of "tourism pairing", while others believe they have suffered losses.
Similar posts can be seen everywhere on online platforms, such as "Dwelling for a long time as a college student 'travel companion'" "Looking for a Beijing 'travel companion' in early August, planning to play for a week" "Travel companion '! With a good personality, I want to go to Guiyang or Chengdu".
The reporter searched on a certain platform using the keyword "tourism duozi", with over 60 million views per entry. The content of most posts will mention the basic information of the blogger and their requirements for "making posts". These posts generally have a high number of interactions, and there are also many comments in the comment section looking for "making posts".
Ms. Zhang from Changsha, Hunan described her search for a "travel companion" as follows: "Various unexpected situations and other factors often lead to not being able to meet good friends, making it slightly inconvenient to travel alone for meals and other issues, and ensuring safety." Out of curiosity, she tried to search for peers online, and her post received many replies within a few days.
After communication, Ms. Zhang and her "travel companion" departed from a different place and met up in Nanjing, Jiangsu. From Nanjing to Suzhou, and then to Hangzhou, Zhejiang, the two girls take care of each other, let go of themselves together, and share the beautiful scenery. "I was very lucky to have met her. Although I had just started college, I was very careful and had a lot of travel experience. She often took care of me along the way. Traveling with her made me feel very safe and relaxed."
It is also common to not get along well with "travel partners". Ms. Liu, from Jinan, Shandong Province, went to Xizang with a "travel partner" in June this year, but during the trip, there were differences because of the consumption concept. "The sense of travel experience was very poor. She separated from" partner "and signed up for a tour group".
The reporter found that many people are looking for "travel companions" with the original intention of "making travel safer", but there are many situations where "travel companions" cannot help each other, sometimes even more dangerous than traveling alone.
Ms. Wang from Chengdu, Sichuan is a tour guide who has been engaged in the tourism industry for nearly 10 years. "I don't want to encounter situations where strangers form teams to be 'travel companions'," Ms. Wang said. She has suffered losses because of' travel companions': once, she led a group with two girls who lived with her. One night, one of the girls told the tour guide that her companions seemed to have been missing for a long time. Once again, this girl and her partner are new acquaintances and have not even exchanged phone calls.
"When I found the girl who had not returned with the scenic area staff, her phone had already run out of battery, and she had severe altitude sickness, almost unable to walk on her own," Ms. Wang said.
Ms. Wang introduced that in the tourism industry, it is customary for tour guides to divide people who register together into groups, each with a contact person. The tour guide is responsible for notifying the contact person, and the contact person will notify this group of the message. Through this approach, the tour guide efficiently conveys information to each tourist. If a traveler travels alone for a long distance, the tour guide will assign the individual to a family group and pay extra attention. When a stranger makes a "travel companion", the tour guide may think that the two are friends, but the "travel companion" combination does not necessarily serve as a "friendly reminder" like friends, and may even be very indifferent and self active.
Ms. Hao from Shangrao, Jiangxi once found a "travel companion" online and planned to climb Wugong Mountain together at night. Later, the other party recommended a very good homestay, so she transferred the money from booking the hotel to the "travel companion". As a result, Ms. Hao found that she had been deleted by the other party when she got off the train.
Ms. Mi from Guiyang, Guizhou posted in mid June this year looking for a "travel companion". The person who claimed to be "Xuanxuan" contacted her on the same day, stating that she also had plans to travel to Yunnan and the two could be together.
"Our itinerary is very consistent, so we added contact information," Ms. Mi said. Later, "Xuanxuan" informed her that she could travel by participating in a "Young People's Travel Group" and introduced the specific itinerary of the travel group. "I think the price is high, and I hope to find some more cost-effective travel groups, but she told me that being too cheap would be unsafe. She has already done her homework.".
In the end, Ms. Mi and "Xuanxuan" added the contact information of the tour guide together and paid a deposit of 500 yuan.
In early July, "Xuanxuan" claimed that she would arrive later on the day of her trip. "If she comes later, it means that I have been alone in the tour group for this period of time. Didn't we agree to participate in the whole trip together?" Ms. Mi felt something was wrong and checked her social media again. She found that "Xuanxuan" was still posting in search of "travel partners".
"My 'travel companion' and the account of the tour guide are the same." It wasn't until then that Ms. Mi realized she had been deceived.
In the interview, some people who are preparing to try "travel outfits" also have questions: how should responsibilities be divided in case of accidents during the journey? Do travel enthusiasts have an obligation to remind their companions of the potential dangers they may face?
Li Yuan, a lecturer at the School of Civil and Commercial Law at Southwest University of Political Science and Law, believes that when the two travel together, they are no longer strangers, but have a special trust relationship. When one party's right to life, body, or health is infringed upon or in other dangerous situations, if the peer has the conditions and ability to provide assistance, they shall fulfill their obligation to provide assistance; If you realize that your partner may face danger, you should promptly remind and advise them; When danger has already occurred, one should bear the obligation of assistance within a reasonable range, such as seeking help from professionals. If there are minors among peers, adults should fulfill a higher duty of care and protection towards minors.
Associate Professor Wang Yegang from the School of Law at Central University of Finance and Economics reminds that "whether a 'tourist rider' needs to bear responsibility after a danger occurs depends on the degree of their fault. If a 'tourist rider' does not have intentional or gross negligence in causing damage, they do not need to bear responsibility. If a 'tourist rider' has intentional or gross negligence in causing damage, for example, if the danger is caused by a 'tourist rider', they need to bear responsibility."
"If 'tourism partners' are the organizers of activities, such as personnel, routes, plans, etc., they are all determined by them, then' tourism partners' bear the obligation of safety protection, and if they violate their obligations, they will bear the liability for infringement." said Zheng Zhifeng, Associate Professor at the School of Civil and Business Law of Southwest University of Political Science and Law.
Self driving tours are a popular way of traveling for many tourists during the summer, among which there are many "travel options". In the scenario of self driving tours, Wang Yegang believes that motor vehicle users have the obligation to pay attention to traffic safety. If a traffic accident causes damage to passengers, it is the responsibility of the motor vehicle party, and the motor vehicle party needs to bear compensation liability based on the degree of fault. When the user of a motor vehicle only has general negligence in the occurrence of an accident, their liability for compensation should be reduced. When the user of a motor vehicle has intentional or gross negligence in the occurrence of an accident, they shall bear full liability for compensation.
The interviewed experts believe that the travel group has a security obligation when registering for a travel group together with "Tazi". "If consumers apply for group tours, when tourism operators and tourism auxiliary service providers fail to fulfill their safety protection obligations, causing personal injury and property damage to tourists, tourists can request tourism operators and tourism auxiliary service providers to bear the responsibility for failing to fulfill their safety protection obligations." Li Yuan said.
"When choosing this type of tourism, the first thing to pay attention to is travel safety. Tourists can prioritize choosing platforms that actively fulfill their regulatory responsibilities for companion tourism. There are platforms that provide services specifically for companion tourism, which will authenticate the captains of original routes with real names, evaluate and review the safety of routes, and regulate funds. Compared to the situation of randomly forming teams to find 'backpackers' on social media platforms, choosing platforms that actively regulate companion tourism for travel will provide more protection for personal and property safety." Li Yuan said.
