China names 5 tourists for bad behavior

BEIJING: China's tourism authority named and shamed another five tourists for bad behavior and says it is working with airlines on a possible flying ban.

Those added to the list of "uncivilised behavior" by tourists include two women and a man who brawled after one woman's seat was bumped during boarding of a flight from Cambodia to the western city of Chengdu.

The three were forcibly removed from the plane under captain's orders and the flight was delayed for one hour, the China National Tourism Administration said.

Another man was listed after he was arrested in Japan for assaulting a convenience store clerk whom he accused of disrespecting his wife. The last was a woman who attacked her tour guide with hot tea after learning the price of her son's ticket to a western China scenic site was not included in the package.

Their names and a description of their alleged misbehavior were entered onto the administration's list and will remain there for one to three years.

Over that period, they can be refused service by travel agents, airlines, hotels and scenic sites.

In a further step, the administration said it was working with major Chinese airlines on "enacting definite restrictive measures" against those on the list, which currently includes 16 names in total.

The government has grown concerned about the negative impact on China's image stemming from numerous incidents of bad behavior by Chinese tourists at home and abroad, ranging from fighting with air crews to defacing cultural artifacts.

Social media platforms have spread descriptions and video clips of the incidents, prompting widespread derision among the public and occasional online campaigns to identify the perpetrators.

Rising incomes, relaxed regulations and cheap flights have permitted record numbers of Chinese to travel in recent years. Among other frequent complaints are line-cutting, smoking where banned, littering and fouling public toilets.