Saturday 1 May 2010

What’s The Japanese For ‘What A Bloody Cheek!’..?

The enduring popularity of Beatrix Potter's books among the Japanese has kept her beloved Lake District near the top of the 'must see' list when they visit Britain.
Great!

Tourist money coming in to the country, visitors taking back charming pictures of life in our great countryside and wonderful literary heritage, and th…

Oh, FFS..!
Every Japanese tourist who comes to the area on the trail of the much-loved children's author will be asked to pay a £5 donation to support conservation work.
What..?! Seriously, what!?

Only the Japanese? Are these people crazy?
The unusual levy - thought to be the first time visitors from one particular country have been targeted in this way - could raise £25,000-a-year towards the upkeep of footpaths and supporting wildlife projects.
Outside of sumo wrestlers, I’ve never figured the Japanese for being uniquely damaging to footpaths…
However some local businesses fear that seeking to extract more money out of Japanese tourists - who already spend nearly £700-per-head on average while in Britain - could risk alienating a key market.
No s***, Sherlock…

And isn't it amazing that we have a successful industry - tourism - enjoyed by visitors who come here to spend money and all our greedy, grasping local conservation charity can do is seek to put their hands even further into their pockets?

9 comments:

Indyanhat said...

Thats got to be illegal, discrimination issues at the very least!
Will the Japanese decide en masse not to go there anymore, what a blow that would be to the local shops etc.

SHEER UTTER MADNESS!!!

Clarissa said...

I'm with Indyanhat, there is surely some sort of -ism or -ist card to be played here.

Turnabout is fair play after all. :)

Tim Almond said...

Wrong way around. Normally I criticise councils for making things common which can be done individually. In this case, they're choosing to charge individually for things best done by the common.

There was a local news report about how Weston spends far more on parks than most local councils, but that's entirely sensible as it's a tourist resort for old ladies.

Ross said...

British hospitality at its best.....

The thing is Japanese tourists have a reputation for being exceptionally well behaved- I remember reading somewhere how at the World Cup in Germany stewards in the stadiums were amazed to see that the Japanese stayed behind to clear up all their rubbish in a way no other country's tourists do.

It seems like a shakedown attempt at a group of tourists who are likely to be wealthier than average.

bayard said...

"Every Japanese tourist who comes to the area on the trail of the much-loved children's author will be asked to pay a £5 donation to support conservation work."

You've been sucked in by the Daily Fail. The Japanese aren't being charged £5, as this article seeks to imply in the usual journalistic pursuit of "sexing up" a fairly mundane story, they are being asked to donate a fiver to a local charity. I'm sure they are quite capable of smiling politely, bowing and walking away without taking offence if they don't want to make a donation.

Gibby Haynes said...

I wish I was Japanese. Then I could buy soiled teenage girls' underwear out of a vending machine, and nobody would think I was a creepy weiro.

Greencoat said...

Leftie twats have never liked the Japanese because they're a hard-working, well-mannered race with a strong sense of their racial identity.

Though of course the last bit is OK for Lefties if you happen to be a Hamas thug.

subrosa said...

Bayard, are all other visitors being asked? Can you confirm the Japanese are not being asked prior to arrival?

JuliaM said...

"British hospitality at its best....."

Depressing, isn't it?

"You've been sucked in by the Daily Fail. The Japanese aren't being charged £5, as this article seeks to imply in the usual journalistic pursuit of "sexing up" a fairly mundane story, they are being asked to donate a fiver to a local charity."

Oh, I'm aware it is just a request - the article does actually state that. But if the intention is to ONLY ask the Japanese for this extra donation, it's still wrong, as Subrosa points out.

It's singling them out as being a) rich (and therefore fair game) and b) foreign (and therefore fair game).

Neither of those attitudes are things I'd like to see in my tourism industry, frankly...

"Leftie twats have never liked the Japanese because they're a hard-working, well-mannered race with a strong sense of their racial identity."

That may well be a part of it.