Merde Alors!! What is THAT doing in the pool!!!



OMG!

An article from the Times reported in E-Tid, the travel news site, caught my eye and  got me thinking again about differing standards of behaviour amongst nationalities and cultures and how international travel sometimes brings tourists face to face with these behavioural differences.   

"A lawyer representing 140 families who fell ill at the Holiday Village Red Sea in Sharm el Sheikh this summer has described conditions as horrific, with human faeces in swimming pools and puddles of vomit in dining areas. It is marketed by First Choice, which said it will continue to sell holidays at the resort and has taken extra measures to tackle the pools and food issues (Times)."

Anyone who has stayed in one of the Sinai resorts will know the very cosmopolitan mix of nationalities staying at these resorts.  These days there are many people from the old communist countries as well as from 'traditional" sources.   However, I am not pointing a finger at any particular national group.   It is certainly true that UK tourists often come in for criticism but anti-social behaviour is not unique to Brits on holiday.  

Having stayed at Taba I know that the local staff there are charming and try very hard to make a holiday at their resort as pleasant as possible.  However with somethings being as obvious as the causes of the health problem mentioned in the report, the managements have a duty to tackle and censure those tourists (and their offspring) who behave in a way that offends guests in such a basic and unhygenic way.  It should not need a class action by 140 families to bring about remedial action by the tour operator and the resort - it should not have happened in the first place.