BEIJING, April 24 -- Beijing authorities will ban travel agencies from forcing tourists to shop and charging additional fees on one-day tours around the city, the Beijing Times reported today.

The ban is included in a standard contract released by the city's Tourism Administration and Bureau of Industry and Commerce, which the authorities will require travel agencies to adopt for the May Day holiday and afterward.

According to the new standard contract, tourists can get back 50 percent of their travel expenses if they are required to go shopping or attend other activities that will inflict additional charges on them. They are entitled to a full refund from travel agencies if they are forced to shop.

While enjoying relatively cheap one-day travel, tour package visitors often have to waste time and money on compulsory shopping, medical consultation, and visiting additional scenic spots, said Liu Lili, an official with the Tourism Administration of Beijing.

Sometimes the time spent on compulsory shopping and additional activities is longer than the scheduled trip itself.

The price of a one-day tour around Beijing is expected to rise because the new contract restricts travel agencies from making extra money on top of their normal revenue.

Travel agencies charge 180 yuan (US$24.66) on average for a one-day package tour. However, the cost of a typical one-day tour, featuring Badaling, the most visited section of the Great Wall, and Dingling, the underground mausoleum of Emperor Wan Li (1573-1620), amounts to 280 yuan, said the administration.

As a common practice, many tour guides will ask tourists to spend a lot of time, if not money, in shops which would give them commissions to make up for the gap between actual cost and travel charge. The new contract is the administration's effort to ban such "compulsory shopping," which has aroused many complaints from travelers.

Big travel agencies, such as China Travel Service and China Youth Travel Service, have said they will abide by the new standard. However, the potential price rise has increased concerns that registered travel agencies will lose tourists to illegal operators.

Altogether 56 travel agencies in Beijing offer one-day tours around the city.