Chinese win 2nd place as most unwelcome tourists: survey
Staff Reporter 2012-09-11 10:47 (GMT+8)
Chinese tourists are only slightly less annoying than visitors from the US. (Internet photo)
Chinese tourists are spending the big bucks when abroad, but are still considered the worst tourists, trailing only the US, state broadcaster China National Radio quoted an international travel website as saying.
According to an international firm which evaluated public perceptions of different countries towards their international visitors, Chinese tourists ranked second to last in tolerability. "First, you hear the noise. Then they come," was the most common criticism of Chinese visitors.
Failure to comply with the social norms of other countries, spitting, not flushing the toilet, cutting in line and running red lights are common complaints about visitors from China.
Perhaps surprisingly, given the propensity of many Chinese tourists to spend large amounts of money shopping for souvenirs, many people in the nations they visit think of the visitors as being stingy in other areas, such as stealing toilet paper from bathrooms and taking away napkins and cutlery from restaurants. Few Chinese tourists leave tips at restaurants, completely normal in China but often expected abroad.
During the end of August and early September, outbound flights have been virtually full and seats during the National Day holidays around Oct. 1 have sold out. Even peak prices and holidays can do to keep Chinese in the country.
