【英语中国】恶导游累香港名声

A viral video of a Hong Kong tour guide scolding mainland tourists for not shopping enough has sparked a storm of public criticism and elicited promises of reform from the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong.

'Spend more, you'll be happier…don't tell me you don't need [to buy more], next you'll be telling me you don't need to eat at meal time,' the tour guide says aggressively to a crowded bus of Chinese tourists. 'I will lock you out of your hotel rooms because you don't need them [either].'

The video (also available on Tudou) isn't much to look at. The camera mainly points at the back of a bus seat as the tour guide's voice is heard over the vehicle's PA system berating her clients for seven minutes.

The tirade has struck a nerve in mainland China, revealing widespread anger and frustration among mainlanders at Hong Kong's coercive shopping tactics. 'Female Hong Kong tour guide threatens and hurls abuse at mainland visitors, forcing them to shop,' several similar headlines read.

Tour guides in China, as in many places, often make deals to herd tourists into expensive stores in exchange for a cut of the sales. If tourists don't buy enough, the guides can get pretty unfriendly.

But the video has triggered an outpouring of discontent from mainlanders who feel they get poor treatment in Hong Kong. More than a dozen television news stations on the mainland showed the video, according to Hong Kong's The Standard newspaper, and it has been posted on both YouTube and Tudou. 'This video is a reality for mainland tourists in Hong Kong!' reads one online comment.

'I've been several times, and every tour guide is this way,' complains another poster. 'The mainland has good tourist spots all over, why not just not go to Hong Kong,' writes a third.

That last sentiment is most worrying for Hong Kong tourism. Tourists from north of the border have become a huge source of revenue for the territory's retail industry in recent years - indeed many Hong Kongers complain that Cantonese-speaking locals are now largely ignored in favor of Mandarin-speaking mainlanders in Hong Kong's designer boutiques.

Hong Kong's Travel Industry Council put out a statement promising to improve conditions for tourists, even if it had to deploy 'undercover' agents to weed out bad tour guides, according to Sohu News. The Council's official website says a new 'Code of Conduct for Tour Guides' will come into effect as soon as Friday.

The Council's actions come after another incident, last month, in which a mainland tourist had a heart attack while shopping in Hong Kong. The man was arguing with a 'bogus tour guide' who was pressuring him to do more shopping, according to The Standard.

一段视频显示一香港导游辱骂购物不多的内地游客，广泛流传，结果引发公众狂风暴雨般的批评，并促使香港旅游业议会(Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong)做出改革承诺。

视频中，导游凶巴巴地对一车的内地游客说，你花一点钱开心一下，有什么所谓呢……不要跟我说我没有需要，等一下吃饭的时候，你也说我没有需要吃。今天晚上住酒店，我会把所有房门都锁上，我们是没有需要去住的。

这段视频在土豆网上也有，视频中看不到什么太多东西。镜头大多时候对着大巴车一个座位的椅背，从汽车的扩音系统可以听到导游辱骂游客长达数分钟。


这顿辱骂触动内地的神经，引爆了内地游客对香港强迫购物手段的普遍愤慨。好几条新闻标题都写成“香港女导游谩骂恐吓游客、强迫消费”。

中国的导游和很多地方一样，常常把游客带到昂贵的购物地点，然后从购物地点提成。如果游客购物不多，导游可能会变得相当不友好。

但看到这段视频后，还是有很多觉得在香港受到过恶劣对待的内地人宣泄不满。据香港《英文虎报》(Standard)报道，这段视频已被内地十几家电视台播放，并被上传到了YouTube和土豆网。一条网上留言说，视频反映了来港内地游客面临的现实。

另一人留言说，我去过多次，每次导游都这样。还有人留言说，内地好的旅游景点到处都是，就别去香港了。

最后这条留言反映的情绪是香港旅游业最担心的。近些年，从边境北部过来的游客已经成为香港零售行业的一个巨大收入来源。事实上很多香港人抱怨说，香港很多时装店已经对讲广东话的本地人不理不睬，而对讲普通话的内地人笑脸相迎。

香港旅游业议会发表声明说，承诺改善游客条件，哪怕它不得不以“放蛇”（编者注：安插卧底）等方式打击旅游服务业“黑点”。“议会”官方网站还说，新修订的《导游作业守则》(Code of Conduct for Tour Guides)定于7月15日生效。

“议会”采取这些措施之前，上个月还有一件事情发生。《英文虎报》报道，一位“假导游”强迫一位内地男性游客多买东西，这名游客与导游争吵，结果突发心脏病。