旅游是把雙刃劍

In my country， Scotland， tourism is a major industry and a very important source of income. Sometimes， however， people wonder if it is completely a good thing.

The mountains in the west of Scotland are some of the most beautiful in the whole world. People from all over the world come there to climb these beautiful hills and enjoy the dramatic scenery by walking along the narrow tracks. But the weather is very wet and the soil is fragile. When many people walk along the mountain paths the soil crumbles and then slides down from the mountainside. New tracks have then to be cut out for a new batch of visitors. What is really happening is that the mountains which have lasted for many centuries are now gradually being worn away by the feet of the very people who come to enjoy them.

Many people like to visit the Highlands of Scotland because they are quiet and peaceful – unlike the cities from which they come. But when there are many busloads of tourists in a quiet place it is no longer a quiet place. Ironically the tourists destroy the very thing they have come to find.

This is unfortunately often the case all over the world. A place becomes popular for some special reason and the tour companies respond to consumer demand. In the beautiful Italian city of Florence art lovers from all over the world queue patiently for two hours or more to gain admission to the famous Uffizi Gallery where many of the greatest works of the Italian Renaissance are on display. They will discover that once they are inside they will only be permitted to gaze in wonder for a few precious seconds at each famous painting. Why so? It is because the moisture in the breath of the art lovers is gradually affecting the paintings themselves.

These two simple examples have a message for us all when we are considering the tourism industry. Tourism is a real engine of economic growth: in a small country like Scotland it is estimated to provide 3% of growth and direct employment for over 200，000 people. We cannot turn our back on it or refuse to share our heritage with others. What is required is to study best practice wherever it is found and to apply it appropriately.

In China an excellent example of efficient tourism management is to be found in Hunan Province at Zhangjiajie. Here thousands of visitors are able to enjoy a world heritage natural experience in a most efficient and orderly way. It is a lesson for the rest of the world in how to cater for the visitors while preserving and protecting the wonderful environment they have come to appreciate.

A second lesson that the tourism industry needs to learn is that tourists are customers and that they can be very fickle customers. Money is always as scarce commodity and as tourism becomes more sophisticated there is more and more choice available. In China， holidays are fairly infrequent and people are increasingly unwilling to be use them to visit a famous spot just because it is famous. All over the world there are tourist resorts that are now almost completely deserted and in disrepair because they failed to meet the needs of the market. If the customers are dissatisfied they won’t come back and neither will their friends. Tourism， like any other industry， if it is to be successful requires market research and careful planning.

One of the important legacies of the Olympic Games for Beijing was their increased awareness of the standards expected by foreign visitors. It is important that these lessons are not forgotten and that any organization in China that is seriously anticipating a successful foray into the international tourism market should study these findings seriously. Many countries in the world which seek to attract tourist income from abroad fail to pay attention to basic things. There is perhaps nothing more basic than adequate provision of public toilet facilities. The public toilets in London， for example， are often a disgrace to any civilized country. An excellent example of the standard that should be aimed for can be found in Li Jiang in Yunnan. Here in the Old City all the public toilets are attractively built to blend with the ancient buildings. They are well sign-posted， beautifully maintained， staffed by people who are proud of their job， immaculately clean， devoid of any unpleasant odors --- and free.

Really， the most crucial thing to understand is that tourists come to visit one place rather than another， go to one restaurant rather than another or stay in one hotel rather than another is because they want to. If we want them to come we must be willing to welcome them and we must make their visit so pleasant that they will want to return and that they will tell all their friends to come as well. On the other hand， it is only fair to expect our tourists to behave in such a way that we will be delighted with their visit and only too happy to welcome them back.

One important factor in this is the attitude towards the customers who are expected to provide the prosperity.

In Gaelic， the ancient language of Scotland， there is no special word for “tourist”， only a word for “guest”. But now many local people see the tourists not as “guests” but only as a source of money. This is not a good relationship and is harmful to both the “strangers” and the local people. Let us hope that the tourism industry in China can bring prosperity and development without the appearance of such negative effects and that millions of tourists from home and abroad will have the opportunity to appreciate the marvelous beauty of this wonderful land.

在我的國家蘇格蘭，旅游是一項支柱產(chǎn)業(yè)，也是非常重要的經(jīng)濟來源。盡管有時人們會懷疑這究竟是不是一件好事情。

蘇格蘭西部的群山是全世界最美麗的山脈之一。世界各地的人們來到這里，一邊沿著狹窄的小路攀爬，一邊欣賞四周美麗的景色。不過那里的天氣非常潮濕，土壤也很松散。很多人走在這樣的山路上，腳下的土就會不斷地從山邊掉落下來。所以一旦有新的游客來，這里就不得不開辟新的路徑。這些山已經(jīng)存在了許多世紀，隨著游客的不斷增多，這些群山正在漸漸地被消磨殆盡。

許多人喜歡到蘇格蘭高地旅游，因為那里十分安靜，不像他們所在的城市那般喧鬧。但是，當一車車的游客光臨這個安靜的地方后，安靜就不復(fù)存在了。他們來尋找的，正是他們正在破壞的——真是諷刺??！

這樣的事情在全世界都很常見。一個地方因為一些特別的原因而出名，旅行社就會應(yīng)客人要求，組織大家到此地旅游。在意大利美麗的城市佛羅倫薩，全世界的藝術(shù)愛好者都來到這里，為了得到烏菲茲美術(shù)館的入場券，看意大利文藝復(fù)興時期的作品展覽，不惜耐心地排兩個多小時的隊。等他們進去后才會發(fā)現(xiàn)，每幅作品，他們只被允許看幾秒鐘時間。為什么會這樣？因為他們呼吸排出的潮濕氣體會逐漸對墻上的畫產(chǎn)生影響。

當我們想到旅游產(chǎn)業(yè)的時候，上面這兩個簡單的例子就會給我們提一個醒。旅游業(yè)確實是經(jīng)濟發(fā)展的引擎：在一個像蘇格蘭這樣的小地方，旅游每年大概會帶來3%的經(jīng)濟增長以及超過2000個工作崗位。我們不能對這些數(shù)字不理不睬，也不能拒絕把我們的自然遺產(chǎn)與他人分享。我們所能做的就是學到最好的方法并付諸于實施。

在中國湖南張家界，可以看到一個極好的旅游管理方式。在這里，數(shù)千游客可以在一個高效有序的方式下盡情地欣賞世界自然遺產(chǎn)。這著實給其他國家上了很好的一課，教給他們?nèi)绾渭瓤梢杂嫌慰偷男枰?，又可以保留和保護自然環(huán)境。

旅游產(chǎn)業(yè)要上的第二堂課就是，游客也是顧客，而且有時是變化無常的顧客。金錢永遠是一種稀有商品，當旅游業(yè)變得越來越復(fù)雜和世故，就會有越來越多的人選擇怎么去花錢。在中國，假期非常少，人們開始變得不愿意將假期用在一個僅僅因為著名而毫無新意的景點。如今，全世界有很多景點幾乎荒廢了，因為他們沒有迎合市場的需要。如果游客感到不滿意，他們就不會再來這里，更不會成為這里的朋友。旅游業(yè)，像其他產(chǎn)業(yè)一樣，如果想要成功，就需要市場調(diào)查和細致的規(guī)劃。

奧運會留給北京最重要的東西之一，便是讓北京提高了迎合國外游客各種要求的意識。對于那些期望成功打入國際市場的中國旅游機構(gòu)來說，是非常需要認真研究這些經(jīng)驗的。世界上許多國家在尋找國外旅游市場時，都忽略了最基本的事情?；蛟S沒有什么比公共廁所設(shè)施建設(shè)更基本的事情了，舉個例子，談起英國的公廁，和任何一個文明的國家公廁比較，都是一件丟人的事情。而另一個優(yōu)秀的例子可以在云南麗江找到。在麗江古城，所有的公廁都設(shè)計得非常吸引人，并且非常恰當?shù)嘏c周圍古老的建筑融合在一起。這些廁所標志醒目，維護得很漂亮，清潔人員也非常熱愛工作，把這里打掃得非常干凈，沒有一點難聞的氣味。還有，所有的廁所都是免費的。

事實上，我們需要明白的一件最重要的事情就是，游客們?nèi)ヒ粋€景點而不去另一個，去一家餐廳而不去另一家，或者去一個賓館而不去另一個，是因為他們想去這家而不去另外一家。如果我們想招攬更多的游客，我們就要熱情地歡迎他們，讓他們非常開心，讓他們愿意再回來，并且讓他們愿意告訴身邊的朋友也一起來。另一方面，我們也希望游客們可以文明游覽，這樣我們就會非常高興地歡迎他們來旅游，也會非常盼望他們能再來。

如果希望游客們帶來更多的經(jīng)濟效益，一個重要的因素就是對游客的態(tài)度。

在蓋爾語（一種蘇格蘭古老的語言）中，沒有“游客”這個詞，只有“客人”。但是現(xiàn)在，許多當?shù)厝瞬⒉话延慰彤斪鳌翱腿恕?，而僅僅當他們是一種收入來源。對“外地人”和本地人來說，這并不是一個好的關(guān)系，甚至還會破壞這種關(guān)系。讓我們共同希望中國的旅游業(yè)能夠興旺發(fā)達，在發(fā)展的道路上沒有不和諧的音符，讓國內(nèi)外的游客可以有機會欣賞到這片土地的美麗。