Stereotype Destroys Tourism Business

On vacation for the past week, I visited the East Coast of Taiwan. Of course being able to enjoy the magnificent view of Taroko Gorge, delicious night-market foods, and the soothing Tai-Dong hotspring, I witnessed a scene that I believe to be extremely detrimental to Taiwan Tourism Business.

Checking-in at one of Tai-Dong's prestigious Hot Spring Hotel at 2PM, I feared for Tai-Dong's tourism industry. In a hotel that could occupy 600 guests, I was the only person at the lobby, along with several hotel staffs. However, while I was soaking in the soothing outdoor hotspring at 5PM, ten buses (40 seaters) pulled up into the parking lot. I was relieved to hear the 300+ tourists talking and moving into the hotel, knowing that Taiwan tourism is saved by group tourists from China. While the Chinese tourists were checking in, my friend and I were enjoying the whole garden of hotspring to ourselves. Noticing that we were speaking English and Taiwanese Mandarin, the hotspring supervisor came to chit-chat with us, asking "Where you guys from? What are you guys going to eat later? Do me to borrow a motorcycle for you guys? Want to join my buddies for some ma-la hotpot later on? The supervisor is of Aboriginal descent, so his warm welcome and attitude was no surprise to us.

What surprised us was what happened 20 minutes later. Groups of 20-30 tourists began to enter the Hotspring Garden with casual clothing, testing the water temperature of various ponds with their hands. All of a sudden, I heard the supervisor blowing his whistle with blasting force at one of the male-tourists who was walking by the edge of the pond with a cigarette in hand. The supervisor yelled: HEY YOU! Get over there...THERE to the picnic tables..Smoke there ONLY! After being yelled at, the Chinese man's face was filled with confusion, shock, and embarrassment.

I totally understand that smoking near the pool is unacceptable, fear of the ash falling in and

contaminating the water; however, there is no need to yell at a tourist like that. If today it was myself or any local Taiwanese guest doing the same actions, I can be certain the supervisor will not holler with such hostility. It is only because today this tourist is from China, so the supervisor believes he has the right to scream and belittle this China tourist. It is unfortunate that many ignorant Taiwanese citizens have a stereotypical view of the Chinese citizens to be uneducated and with poor manners. Don't these rude Taiwanese citizens know by treating the Chinese tourists rudely, they (Chinese citizens) in return will have a negative view on the Taiwanese, believing that the Taiwanese people are ill-mannered and uneducated.

Sadly, I can sense the same discrimination from the Front Desk Clerk and restaurant staff; however, I do not put 100% of the blame on them, but on the owners and managers of the hotel. They did not train the employees to treat all guests with the same equality and with the utmost respect. They most likely would think, "What the hell, our goal is to get these China folks in ONCE and earn their money ONCE, and it is good enough." Yet, it is not good enough at all. If the majority of the tourism operators in Taiwan think the exact same way and treat all China tourists like crap, Taiwan will definitely NOT be a returning vacation spot for our nearby neighbors.

From the business perspective, recurring revenue (in this case: returning

customers) are more important than "new" customers. If Taiwan tourism operators continue to belittle and harass their precious potential returning Chinese customers, Taiwan tourism will face detrimental consequences. Unfortunately, this negative phenomenon not only occurs in Taiwan but all parts of the world, because every country has specific negative stereotypes against a specific race or ethnicity. Seriously, THIS IS BAD BUSINESS IF WE KEEP DOING THIS!

Be kind, be respectful, treat them as you would want they to treat you when you visit their country!

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