Snarky No More

CBS News Aug 11, 2010
【导读】 英国人是出了名的含蓄和保守，外国游客对英国人的普遍印象是，诚实高效，但不够热情。为了提高民众的积极性，指导民众在奥运期间与外国游客打交道时应注意的礼仪，英国国家旅游局发布了一份 2012 年伦敦奥运会礼仪指南。
Hold off from hugging an Indian, don’t be alarmed if the French are rude and never mistake a Canadian for an American.

Britain’s national tourism agency issued guidelines Wednesday on the etiquette of dealing with the hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors who will be coming to London for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Seeking to help the country’s sometimes snarky citizens offer a warmer welcome, VisitBritain has updated its advice for anyone likely to work with travelers arriving from overseas—from hotel staff to taxi drivers.①

Other tips: Don’t go around asking Brazilians personal questions and never be bossy with visitors from the Middle East.

“Giving our foreign visitors a friendly welcome is absolutely vital to our economy,” said Sandie Dawe, chief executive officer of the agency. “With hundreds of thousands of people thinking of coming to Britain in the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012, this new advice is just one of the ways that VisitBritain is helping the tourism industry care for their customers.”

About 30 million people visit Britain each year, spending about 16.6 billion pounds. The 2012 Olympics is likely to bring in an additional 2.1 billion in tourism revenue, according to a government estimate, and about 320,000 extra visitors from overseas during the games in July and August 2012.

VisitBritain said research it had conducted found tourists believe Britons are honest and efficient—but not the most pleasant. Britain is ranked 14th out of 50 in the Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index on the quality of welcome offered to visitors, the tourism agency said.②