UK hoteliers warned not to poke fun at Indian tourists

Published on : Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Over the past decade, VisitBritain has been continuously issuing guidelines for UK hoteliers on how to treat foreign guests like Germans, Russians, Canadians and Indians. It is often recorded that UK hoteliers end up poking fun at Indians on their accent, thus offending guests in some way or the other. In order to not to lose business due to cultural faux pas, VisitBritain has issued a guideline stating that Indians are ‘amiable’ but ‘indecisive’. “Understand that Indians are amiable but have a tendency to change their minds quite frequently,” reads the advice from VisitBritain.
Hoteliers have been asked not to scoff at Indian accents. A similar guideline for Japanese visitors read not to say ‘no’ directly to the guests.
Asia is one of the biggest markets for Britain accounting around 2,73,927 (54 per cent) of the 5,07,701 visitor visas issued in 2012. India and China each accounted for 15 per cent of that total. Hence, the British Government is keen on keeping Asian visitors happy.