Chinese Tourism Authority defines types of bad tourist behavior

Press "PandaGuidesOfficial" above to follow us.

By Arif

Traveling not only opens minds but cultivates good behavior. Unfortunately, a few Chinese tourists’ unruly behavior has made headlines worldwide. These misdeeds range from brawling on flights to defacing landmarks at home and abroad, sparking angry discussion over the disparity between their bulging wallets and their behavior.  Some locals complain that Chinese tourists are “uncultured and rude” while others say they are "too loud.”

News headlines of such misbehavior usually sound like these: “Chinese tourist with her bare feet up on international flight disgusting fellow passengers,” and “Chinese tourist trying to open emergency doors on airplanes,” or “Parents propping up their kids to take a poop subway.”

Rising income level, relaxed visa regulations and cheap flights have opened doors for Chinese tourists worldwide. Every year millions of Chinese tourists make foreign trips that add revenues to foreign countries but tarnishes the reputation of their own country because of bad acts of few individuals which must be controlled through civic education programs at home.

Amid these concerns, Chinese authorities are considering measures to punish people, who behave badly at tourist spots or on flights.

China’s tourism authorities have taken numerous measures to counter such bad behavior. A new regulation that has defined nine types of bad tourist behavior has been introduce recently. The bad behavior of tourists will be recorded and the violators will be punished to avoid incidents hurting the image of the country in mainland and overseas.

China has already started to put this thought into practice and announced in April that they added the frist tourists onto the blacklist. 

The list of undesirable behavior includes “interrupting order on plane, bus, ship or other public transport, sabotaging the public hygienic environment or public facilities, and violating the social customs or living habits of people at a travel destination.”

The list of bad behavior also reports that tourists involved in damaging cultural relics, participating in gambling, prostitution, or drug-related activities, or act in a way that can either endanger themselves or others and their property will also be recorded.

Tourists’ actions causing damage to the ecological environment, violation of animal and plant protection regulations and acts that seriously disrupt tourism will be considered bad and dealt with sternly.

Violations following the new regulations will be recorded, including personal data of the violator along with the consequences of misdeed. The record of violators will be maintained by authorities for one to five years, according to the new regulations.

The tourism authorities are not only targeting the individuals involved in violation or misbehavior but also hitting the travel agencies who violate laws, regulations, social customs or professional ethics, including those involved in price fraud, forced goods purchases, insults or assault against tourists, and the spread of "low-taste, superstitious ideas," according to official statement of the China’s Tourism office.

 
Sources: Shanghaiist.com, ECNS.cn, & Washingtonpost.com

熊猫外教

 NiubiPanda