Tourists behaving badly

In September, a flight carrying 200 people from Zurich to Beijing had to turn around four hours into its journey after two Chinese passengers got into a scuffle. According to reports, the trouble started when an intoxicated 57-year-old man slapped a younger man on the head for refusing to put his seat upright while a meal was being served.

“The next thing we noticed, they were both on the floor fighting,” Valerie Sprenger, a tourist guide on the flight, told a Swiss news outlet.

Upon landing in Zurich, police took both Chinese men into custody, and a local prosecutor fined the aggressor for “undermining the safety of public transport”.

The incident, which made headlines around the world, is another blow against Chinese travellers, coming on the heels of a survey on the “world’s worst tourists”.

The March poll, conducted by the US-based e-commerce site Living Social, found the Chinese to be the second-worst tourists in the world – next only to the American respondents themselves.

The Chinese may not agree about being ranked so high on the list, but they do have an idea of the sentiments that landed them there.

In a micro blog post that has gone viral, one Chinese television executive bemoaned his compatriots’ unseemly behaviour while getting on a ferry from Singapore to the nearby Indonesian resort island of Bintan.

“The moment the gates opened, everyone scrambled onto the deck,” he wrote in an October 6 post. 

“While being pushed forward by the passengers behind me, I pondered these two questions with a bit of bitterness. With tickets already clutched in our hands, what are we so afraid of?”

Efforts to instil better behaviour among Chinese tourists have been going on for years. In October 2006, spurred by unflattering media reports on mainlanders visiting the newly opened Hong Kong Disneyland, the Ministry of Tourism issued manuals for foreign and domestic travellers.

The international version, titled Manual on Proper Behaviour for Chinese Citizens Travelling Abroad, also sought to address complaints made online.

Among its directives are: Maintain personal hygiene (or don’t take off your socks or shoes in public). Don’t talk too loud. Treat people with courtesy and humility. Wait for your turn in line. Eat quietly. Give way to ladies, the elderly and children. Protect the environment (don’t litter, spit on the ground or smoke in non-smoking areas).

The manuals were disseminated to Chinese travel agencies, tour guides, as well as airline ticketing offices.

Now, half a decade later, the Chinese have become some of the most sought-after tourists for their eagerness to see the world – and to shop.

This year, they are expected to take 80 million overseas trips, spending $80 billion in the process, according to the China Tourism Academy. This means one Chinese for every 13 international travellers in 2012.

Their purchasing power has prompted modifications in hospitality and retail industry practices worldwide. Western hotels have begun to supply rooms with a kettle, instant noodles and chopsticks. Some have created Chinese-language websites, added a Chinese menu and provided Chinese newspapers.

Tour operators have incorporated visits to outlet stores into their itineraries, while luxury-goods stores in Europe and the United States have hired Chinese-speaking sales personnel.

But how about your typical middle-class Chinese tourists, how much has their behaviour changed in the last several years?

Not much, if you ask Yang Bo, a 37-year-old tour operator from Beihai, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, who has been accompanying groups overseas since 2000.

“The thing is, we get so used to certain behaviours that we barely notice them as improper.” But Yang says he has also seen how education and travel experience have contributed to better public conduct.

Money can also mean more sophistication and better manners, but sometimes it translates into posturing, like wanting to buy items that are only for display, Yang says.

People who have lived in China know that public order is not the mainlanders’ greatest strength. Jaywalking is the rule, rather than the exception. Drivers are prone to speeding and swerving. Cars park in bike lanes, leaving cyclists to pedal alongside cars, buses and tricycles.

During rush hour, commuters jostle their way onto buses or subway carriages. Screaming matches between bus drivers and passengers are common. Orderly, single-file lines are a rarity.

Ultimately, the person we are at home is the person we bring to foreign lands. And in 2006, when the tourist manuals were issued, experts did say it may take several generations to nurture the correct behaviour and create a positive image of Chinese tourists.