BEIJING â€" Call it, perhaps, a storm in a kettle: A report that an upscale hotel in the Maldives removed kettles from the rooms of travelers from China to stop Chinese guests from cooking instant noodles in their rooms and not dining in hotel restaurant facilities has incited an online uproar here amid allegations of discrimination.
According to an account of the incident, posted on March 1 on the popular Chinese online forum Tianya and the Web site of a travel company, and quickly reposted to microblogs, a quip circulating among top management at the Beach House Iruveli also had Chinese guests designated as “CN†- not for China, but for “cup noodle,†Zhao Jianke and half a dozen other former employees wrote.
Mr. Zhao’s allegations have hit a nerve: by Sunday afternoon, the account had been forwarded over 91,000 times in China’s blogosphere. “Hateful,†ran one comment with angry red face icon, on a microblog site on Sina Weibo, the country’s biggest, which said it was the “official microblog†of Chongqing Travel, a company from the giant city in southwestern China. There were calls for Chinese to boycott the Maldives.
As Chinese people get richer they are traveling far more; in some markets they are challenging numbers from more traditional markets like Japan, Europe and the United States, including in shopping spending. But their behavior has come under some scrutiny from their own government, which has in the past called on Chinese tourists not to behave in ways that may be acceptable at home but may attract negative attention overseas. Commonly cited examples include cutting lines and spitting, even talking too loudly and moving around in large groups.
Mr. Zhao, who said he was a guest service manager! at the hotel until he was fired in mid-February, said he was present at a morning meeting when a new general manager said kettles would be taken out of all rooms occupied by Chinese guests. Not just because of the instant noodles (called “convenient noodles†in Chinese) but also because guests were using them to boil crab, fish and other seafood, said Mr. Zhao, who denied that guests were doing that.
According to a report in The South China Morning Post of Hong Kong, a statement from the hotel dismissed the accusations as “defamatory.†The hotel denied treating Chinese guests differently.
“The Chinese market is very important for us and are always warmly welcomed to the Beach House Iruveli,†The South China Morning Post quoted the statement as saying.
“The Beach House Iruveli did remove some damaged kettles from rooms as part of routine maintenanc due to the fact that these kettles were damaged by guests by cooking food,†a spokesperson, Linda Petrie, told the newspaper.
Mr. Zhao, 28, who said he had worked in the hospitality industry for seven years, said he felt the Chinese tourists at the hotel were unfairly targeted and that his dismissal and that of his fellow Chinese employees was also unfair. “My goal was to tell everyone how it was so unfair. People have seized on the detail of the kettles but there were other things,†he said in an interview from his home in Xi’an, China, where he is now looking for a new job, “preferably in China,†he said.
Hotels needed to offer kettles if they wanted to attract Chinese guests, he said. “Chinese people need kettles in their rooms. They love to drink hot water.†Overall, people around the world should better understand Chinese people’s habits, he said.
He said it was true many Chinese tourists might travel with instant noodles - they weren’t used to eating forei! gn food, ! or at least not every day.
“I don’t really know what to say about cup noodles. They aren’t even nutritious,†he said. “But they are very convenient. And especially old people or kids might find it hard.†That was something hotels should adjust to, he said.
But he said there was another, objective reason Chinese tourists might not be popular overseas - they aren’t used to tipping well.
“Around the world, overall, they don’t tip well. A European might give $10 or even $20, but a Chinese might only give one,†he said. “That’s a service industry issue. Chinese people aren’t used to tipping. But basically, I think they are changing,†he said.
