Beijing: China has blacklisted four tourists for “uncivilised behaviour” after they created a stir at the Bangkok airport by singing Chinese national anthem to protest against an eight-hour flight delay.
The four were punished and blacklisted on the record of “uncivilised tourists’ behaviour,” the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) said.
A flight delay at the Bangkok airport earlier this month led to dissatisfaction and uproar among Chinese tourists, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The four tourists behaved badly, inciting other tourists to disobey public order at the airport which severely tarnished the image of Chinese people, it said. A video which went viral on the social media showed the four tourists from Chongqing and Chengdu in southwest China singing Chinese national anthem in protest over the delay of the flight. They will stay on the “bad behaviour record” blacklist for two to three years, the CNTA said. While it does not bar the four touristed from traveling by flights, they can be denied bookings by travel agencies, airlines and will be part of records of police and customs. The “bad behaviour record” was first introduced by the CNTA in March this year amid growing concerns about the bad manners of some Chinese tourists both at home and abroad. It remains unclear how the “blacklist” status will affect the offenders, but experts say the rule functions more as a warning.
These tourists will likely face more restrictions when they sign up for group tours or seek lodging in hotels, the report said.
CNTA also vowed to investigate bad behaviour involving Chinese tourists and punish offenders. Outbound tourism is booming in China thanks to rising disposable income, with roughly 97.3 million passengers traveling overseas in 2013, according to official statistics. (PTI)
Last year, the number of Chinese tourists traveling abroad increased by 19.5 per cent year on year to 109 million, nearly 13 times the level in 1998, topping the 100-million threshold for the first time, according to CNTA data. However, stories of public vandalism by its tourists abroad have embarrassed the government. In 2013, a boy was caught carving Chinese characters in the Luxor Temple in Egypt. In December last year, four Chinese passengers grabbed headlines for causing chaos on a Thai budget flight, forcing the aircraft to return to Thailand. PTI KJV MRJ 09121408
