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Hotels in Shanghai Will No Longer Provide Initiatively Six Kinds of Disposable Daily Necessities for Guests. Visitors Are Required to Bring Their Own Ones During Travel.

From next month, people going to Shanghai for business or travel need to bring their own toothbrushes, combs and other daily necessities. According to the Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on the Administration of Household Garbage, from July 1, Shanghai’s tourism and accommodation industry will not voluntarily provide six kinds of disposable daily necessities, including toothbrushes, combs, bath sponges, razors, nail files and shoe brushes, and those who violate the regulation will be fined up to RMB 5,000.

Industry experts said that, the regulation of not providing the six kinds of supplies can promote the reduction of household garbage from the source, yet will cause much inconvenience to consumers. Farewell to the six kinds of hotel supplies, can we still stay in hotels as happily as before?

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No more these supplies for free,

many hotels have already taken action

Although the official implementation date is still some time away, the tips such as “From July 1, our hotel will not voluntarily provide disposable supplies” can be seen in lobbies of many five-star hotels in Xuhui District. From mid-June, the front desk staff will remind guests of this rule, said the related person from an express hotel in Minhang District

Many online travel websites, including eLong, have indicated on their reservation pages that, from July 1, hotels in Shanghai would no longer voluntarily provide disposable daily necessities such as toothbrushes.

The head of the marketing management office of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism said that the key point of the new regulation is “not voluntarily”, that is, hotels cannot initiatively provide disposable supplies. However, when the guests clearly indicate their needs, the hotels can still provide the above-mentioned supplies by delivering the supplies to the door or by asking the guests to fetch supplies at a specific place.

It is understood that the disposable daily necessities should not be voluntarily provided according to Shanghai regulations are somewhat different from the six kinds of hotel supplies mentioned by the hotel industry. Industry insiders said that, the six kinds of hotel supplies usually refer to toothbrushes, toothpaste, soaps, bath lotions, slippers and combs, and only toothbrushes and combs appear in the list of “disposable daily necessities that should not be provided voluntarily” stipulated by the regulations.

According to Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism, the disposable slippers and soaps are not included in the list, because during the preliminary investigation, consumers generally reflected that these two kinds of articles were not convenient to carry along. In addition, most of the bath lotions sold on the market have a specification of more than 100ml, which exceeds the upper limit set by the Civil Aviation Administration for liquids in carry-on luggage.

 “Toothpaste actually cannot be provided in the hotels because they are among the list,” said Wang Miaomiao, director of Marketing Communications of Greenland Hotel and Tourism Group. She also added that the supply chain of disposable supplies in the hotel industry is relatively mature. Toothbrushes and toothpaste are usually provided together. Stop providing toothbrushes voluntarily means that toothpaste cannot be provided for the time being. “We are also mulling over the possibility of providing toothpaste in separate packages in the future.”

Related person of Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism said that the list launched this time is the 2019 version, which will be subject to adjustment as the public’s awareness of garbage reduction continues to improve.

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Millions set of disposable supplies are discarded every day,

behind convenience lies the staggering waste.

The hotels no longer voluntarily provide the six kinds of hotel supplies, consumers will undoubtedly be directly affected.

Xu Zhiqiang, an entrepreneur in Wuhan, said that he often went to Shanghai for business, and many of the trips were planned on an ad hoc basis. Sometimes he would go directly from the office, so he did not have time to pack up his daily necessities. He relied heavily on disposable supplies.

Ms Cui, a Qingdao citizen, said that she usually brings her own toiletries for a business trip or travel. “It is totally a waste and a pity to use the toothbrush or soap for only once or twice and then throw them away.”

According to information, in recent years many cities have tried to implement the regulation that hotels should not provide the six kinds of hotel supplies voluntarily. For example, in Hangzhou, accommodation, tourism and catering operators shall not provide disposable supplies free of charge in their business activities. Provinces including Guangdong, Yunnan and Shandong have proposed that the hotels should stop providing the six kinds of hotel supplies.

However, in many places, the actual results are not satisfactory. Industry insiders said that the hotel industry is in fierce competition, so the services provided by hotels would never be too meticulous. Consumers need to change their consumption concepts in the future.

Du Liangliang, general manager of domestic platform of Ctrip’s Accomodation Bussiness Group, said that there were 13 to 15 million hotel rooms in domestic hotel industry. Based on the occupancy rate of 50%, it was conservatively estimated that at least 6.5 million sets of disposable supplies were used or discarded in China every day. Stopping to provide disposable supplies voluntarily is of great significance to the garbage reduction.

 “China is such a big country that seemingly small savings in every field bring about substantial effects,” said Tina, an international student from Ukraine.

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No disposable supplies provided

should not be the excuse for extra charges

Some netizens think that, since the hotels no longer provide disposable supplies voluntarily, the hotel cost will thereby be saved, so are the hotel accommodation fees going to be cheaper?

Related person of Huazhu Hotels Group answered, the price of disposable products of the hotel was relatively low and had a limited impact on the hotel cost. After the implementation of new regulations, the hotel management and labor costs may even be higher. Currently, Huazhu has no plan to adjust the accommodation fees.

Customer service staff of Marriott and Shangri-La hotels in Shanghai said that, the related regulations would be strictly implemented from July 1, and if consumers make clear demands for disposable supplies, there may or may not be extra charge.

Regulators have said No to unnecessary extra charges. Related person of Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism said that, industry standards such as star-rated hotel evaluation standards clearly defining the services of specific hotels should be followed; if there are no relevant restrictions, the hotels shall decide whether to charge or not. If fees should be charged, the price should be clearly publicized; if no fees were charged before, no unnecessary extra fees should be charged.

Liu Simin, a special researcher at the Tourism Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said, besides cutting off the supply of the six kinds of hotel supplies, the hotel industry still had a long way to go in terms of low-carbon and environment-friendly operation. “For example, hotel bed sheets and quilt covers can be changed one time per guest, instead of once a day, and the summer air conditioning temperature can be set to 26℃ by default. Clean energy such as solar energy should be used by hotels if possible.”

Copyright by Zhengzhou Municipal Tourism Administration