An interesting report in TravelMole highlights America’s image crisis abroad. It’s already well known that tighter security procedures and immigration checks have done their bit to curb a foreign visitor’s enthusiasm at the port of entry. It’s hard to be friendly and safe and it’s better to be the latter than the former. Walt Disney’s legendary parks are now contributing their inputs to the “model airport program’ designed to make entry more courteous and less stressful for large groups of international tourists. Hopefully, Mickey will succeed in walking the fine line between courtesy to customers and necessary security procedures
The US is not the only country hitting unsuspecting visitors with a reality check! A report on the “Paris syndrome” highlights the acute shock and dissonance that Japanese visitors face on landing in the fabled romantic city. Fed on the media image of Paris as the capital of elegance and romance, the tourists are unable to accept the gruff behavior of locals and the dirty streets! About a dozen Japanese tourists seek psychological help every year after their Paris visit!!
Unfortunately, the world is a vastly different place than it appears on celluloid, coffee-table books and picture postcards at souvenir shops! It’s the people that visitors remember long after they have returned home and printed the last of their digital memories.