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How the fear of losing ‘face’ can help more Chinese tourists behave better abroad

  • Carol Zhang says interviews with Chinese tourists show that many are self-conscious about the poor image of Chinese abroad and do their part to behave, so Chinese authorities trying to change the negative perception should bear that in mind

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Illustration: Craig Stephens

There was a time when what happened on tour, stayed on tour. To travel means to escape, and all naughty behaviour overseas was kept strictly confidential. But, nowadays, tourists’ shocking behaviour is widely spread across social media and the news.

To the disapproving public, nationality is a convenient tag and an entire nation easily becomes associated with bad behaviour. It’s not just you; all of you behave badly.

And, among all offending nationalities, Chinese tourists have frequently been named the world’s worst.

While this skewed impression has been caused by just a few tourists, it is becoming a common perception due to the dramatic increase in Chinese tourist numbers.

In 2017, mainland Chinese made more than 130 million outbound trips, a 7 per cent increase from 2016.

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