旅游熱升溫 中國游客涌入帕勞

Chinese tourists are flocking to the remote Palau islands as China's growing number of rich seek new frontiers abroad, but not everyone in the Micronesian paradise is happy about it.

隨著中國的富人越來越多，這些富人便開始尋求新的國外旅游勝地。于是大批的中國游客成群結(jié)隊(duì)地涌向偏遠(yuǎn)僻靜的帕勞群島。不過，居住在這個(gè)被譽(yù)為“密克羅尼西亞天堂”島上的人們并不開心。

Strapped into life-jackets and screaming with excitement, groups of boisterous Chinese thrill-seekers tear around Palau's "Milky Way" lagoon on a flotilla of speedboats -- a spectacle unfamiliar to locals just a few months ago.

吵吵嚷嚷的中國探險(xiǎn)者們成群結(jié)隊(duì)地乘坐快速游艇在帕勞群島的牛奶湖上四處穿梭。他們穿著救生衣，興奮的尖叫聲回蕩四周。幾個(gè)月前，這樣的場景在當(dāng)?shù)夭⒉怀Ｒ姟?/p>

Residents of the archipelago, part of the larger island group of Micronesia, are baffled as to why Chinese travellers represented almost 62 percent of all visitors in February -- up from 16 percent in January 2014.

居住在密克羅尼西亞島群中的居民對如此多的中國游客蜂擁而至感到困惑。為何中國游客總數(shù)能從2014年1月的16%上升到今年2月的62%?

For businessman Du Chuang from Chengdu in China's Sichuan province, it is because his increasingly wealthy countrymen are becoming more adventurous, smashing the stereotype of the herded package tour.

在成都商人杜闖(音譯)看來，造成這種現(xiàn)象的原因在于中國人變得越來越有錢，他們更喜歡冒險(xiǎn)刺激的旅行，不再滿足于成群結(jié)隊(duì)的包團(tuán)旅游。

Du first started to travel by visiting Hainan, the Chinese island in the South China Sea currently witnessing a massive development of hotel resorts. He then ventured to Thailand before branching out to the Maldives.

杜闖第一次出門旅游是去位于中國的海南島。現(xiàn)在的海南正在大規(guī)模地開發(fā)度假酒店。在這之后他又去了泰國，還去了馬爾代夫。

"The corals here are more beautiful than Sanya (on Hainan)," the 46-year-old told AFP, scrolling through photos on his phone of a $1,400 helicopter trip over Palau's Seventy Islands that he took his family on.

46歲的杜闖在接受法新社的采訪時(shí)說：“帕勞群島上的珊瑚比海南三亞的好看多了。”他邊說邊翻看手機(jī)里存著的和家人一起在帕勞七十群島直升機(jī)之旅的圖片。這一直升機(jī)之旅需花費(fèi)1400美元。

"Palau is small and magnificent," added the owner of a successful IT company.

這位成功的IT公司老板說：“帕羅群島雖然不大，景色卻十分壯麗。”

Hoteliers are catching on, with some establishments focusing on Chinese clientele booked out months in advance. At "Sea Passion Hotel" in Koror, 74 of their 75 rooms were occupied by Chinese visitors when AFP visited.

島上酒店的老板們抓住中國游客這一商機(jī)，他們的酒店早在幾個(gè)月前就被中國游客們訂滿了。當(dāng)法新社的記者到達(dá)位于科羅爾的百悅大飯店時(shí)，該飯店的75間客房中就有74間住著中國游客。

On a beach Chinese women wearing full body suits to protect themselves from the sun pose for selfies with husbands and boyfriends in sleeveless vests, which they send to their friends back home in China's grey megacities.

沙灘上的中國女性把自己捂得嚴(yán)嚴(yán)實(shí)實(shí)以遮擋陽光。她們同身穿無袖背心的丈夫或是男朋友擺出各種姿勢自拍，并將這些照片傳給生活在國內(nèi)空氣質(zhì)量不太好的大都市的朋友們。

- 'It's like paradise' -

這里像是一個(gè)天堂

Jia Yixin, a 30-year-old from Shanghai, didn't think twice about paying $1,133 (1,000 euros) for a six-day trip to Palau that she found online.

來自上海的賈藝馨(音譯)今年30歲，當(dāng)她在網(wǎng)上看到帕羅群島6日游只需要1133美元時(shí)，她便毫不猶豫地選擇了付款。

"It is like paradise here," she beamed. "In Shanghai the air is polluted but here people respect the environment," Jia added.

她笑著說：“帕羅群島像是天堂一般的地方。上海的空氣被污染了，而島上的人們卻很愛護(hù)當(dāng)?shù)氐沫h(huán)境。”

Ironically it is the potential environmental impact of the Chinese invasion that is at the forefront of the minds of many of the islands' 18,000 population.

諷刺的是，大量中國游客到這里旅游對當(dāng)?shù)貋碚f是一種潛在的環(huán)境影響。這正是島上1.8萬名居民所擔(dān)心的問題。

Palau welcomed just shy of 141,000 visitors last year, up 34 percent on 2013, largely on the back of the Chinese visitors. But in February this year, mainland Chinese visitors leaped more than 500 percent year-on-year to 10,955 –- more than half Palau's total population.

帕羅群島去年的游客數(shù)量還不到14.1萬人，與2013年的游客數(shù)量相比上升了34%，其中大部分為中國游客。然而今年二月，中國的游客數(shù)是去年同期的5倍，達(dá)到10955人，比帕勞群島總?cè)丝跀?shù)的一半還要多。

Tourism accounts for close to 85 percent of Palau's gross domestic product (GDP), and while profits are up, some are worried the long-term damage may be too great.

帕勞群島的旅游收入將近占其國內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值的85%。雖然當(dāng)?shù)氐睦麧櫾黾恿?，但一些民眾還是很擔(dān)心這種長期潛在的危險(xiǎn)會越來越嚴(yán)重。

"This is a very sudden influx, so we are trying to understand the situation" said Nanae Singeo, managing director of the Palau Visitors Authority, the local tourist board.

當(dāng)?shù)芈糜挝瘑T會——帕勞旅游局的常務(wù)董事Nanae Singeo說：“這種人潮的大量涌入太突然了。我們正試著去了解情況。”

"We have never experienced this much tourism before and the magnitude is really giving us a lot of pressure. We are a very tiny country with scarce resources so this sudden increase is an unknown challenge for us," she added.

她還說：“在此之前我們從未遇到過這么龐大的旅游人數(shù)，這讓我們倍感壓力。我們國家的面積不大，資源匱乏，因此旅游人數(shù)突然增加對我們來說是一種未知的挑戰(zhàn)。”

Palau has long catered for a particular type of visitor, with up to 70 percent of tourists coming for world-famous diving in stunning blue waters with pristine corals.

長久以來，帕勞群島為有特殊需求的游客提供他們所需。帕勞蔚藍(lán)色的海水中遍布著原始珊瑚群，舉世聞名。70%的游客正是慕名而來，想在此潛水嬉戲。

Japanese were traditionally the largest contingent, followed by Taiwanese and Korean visitors. But the majority of the new wave of Chinese tourists seem more interested -- for now at least -- in lounging on the beach.

這里潛水的游客中日本游客占大部分，其次是來自臺灣和韓國的游客。但是最近涌入的中國游客似乎更喜歡在沙灘上悠閑地躺著，至少現(xiàn)在看起來是這樣。

"We are not seeing a growth rate to match the number of visitors," said Singeo. "Tourists are up 34 percent so technically we should see economic benefits at the rate of 30 percent or more, but that's not the case."

Singeo說：“我們并未發(fā)現(xiàn)游客數(shù)量的增加帶動了經(jīng)濟(jì)的增長率?，F(xiàn)在的游客數(shù)量上升了34%，從學(xué)術(shù)角度來說，經(jīng)濟(jì)效益至少應(yīng)該要增加30%，但是目前并沒有出現(xiàn)這樣的情況。”

- 'They wreck corals' -

游客破壞了珊瑚

On the streets of Koror, some accused Chinese people of being noisy and disrespectful towards the environment.

在科羅爾的街頭，許多當(dāng)?shù)鼐用駥Τ吵橙氯?、不愛護(hù)環(huán)境的中國游客頗有不滿。

"They wreck corals and throw their rubbish in the sea," chided Norman, a taxi driver.

出租車司機(jī)諾曼斥責(zé)道：“他們不僅破壞珊瑚，還把垃圾丟到海里。”

In another recent example, a Chinese tour operator named "Yellow Skin Tour" caused outrage in Palau with leaflets including photos of grinning Chinese tourists holding up turtles they had removed from the water -– in one case by its flippers.

除此之外，近日還發(fā)生了一起事件。一個(gè)名為“黃種人旅游團(tuán)”的中國旅行社在帕勞激起了民憤。原因是他們的宣傳冊子上印有中國游客笑著舉著從水里撈出來的烏龜?shù)恼掌?/p>

Residents have also accused Chinese tourists of being responsible for the deaths of some jellyfish at the natural wonder "Jellyfish Lake".

還有一些當(dāng)?shù)鼐用裾J(rèn)為中國游客要對水母湖中部分水母的死亡負(fù)責(zé)。

Visitors are encouraged to marvel at the harmless creatures by floating on the surface, but some locals complain that many Chinese lack swimming skills and thrash around, disturbing the wildlife.

游客可以漂浮在海面上，近距離欣賞這種無害生物的美妙。但是，當(dāng)?shù)鼐用癖г乖S多中國游客不太會游泳，猛烈地拍打水面，影響了野生動物的生活環(huán)境。

The Palau government is exploring ways to try to stem the tide of Chinese tourists to the western Pacific Ocean archipelago and this week said the number of charter flights from China would be halved next month.

帕勞政府正在想方設(shè)法試著阻止中國游客到太平洋西部群島的旅游熱潮。本周當(dāng)?shù)卣硎?，下個(gè)月起中國飛往當(dāng)?shù)氐陌鼨C(jī)航班數(shù)量將會減半。

President Tommy Remengesau said the move was not intended to discriminate against any nationality but was to prevent tourism from becoming too reliant on one market.

總統(tǒng)湯米•雷蒙杰索表示，這一舉措并沒有歧視某國民眾的意思，而是為了使旅游市場不過度依賴一個(gè)國家的客源。

"Do we want to control growth or do we want growth to control us?" he asked reporters. "It will be irresponsible for me as a leader if this trend continues. I am not only looking at the present but, as a leader, I am looking after tomorrow."

“我們要控制游客增長還是游客增長控制我們?”他反問記者，“如果讓這一趨勢繼續(xù)發(fā)展下去，那我就會是一個(gè)不負(fù)責(zé)任的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者。作為一個(gè)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者，我不僅要著眼于現(xiàn)在，還要放眼未來。”

But the number of hotels, restaurants and guides in Palau now catering for a Chinese market would suggest that citizens of the world's second-largest economy are likely to keep coming.

但是在帕勞當(dāng)?shù)?，為了滿足中國市場需求而出現(xiàn)的酒店、飯店和導(dǎo)游則說明，作為世界第二大經(jīng)濟(jì)體，中國的老百姓很有可能會繼續(xù)涌入帕勞旅游度假。

Vocabulary

boisterous：喧鬧的，吵鬧的

flotilla：小型船隊(duì)

pristine：未經(jīng)開發(fā)的，原始的