The Grand Budapest Hotel & VisitBritain's Guide to the Foreign Guest

The United Kingdom is worldwide tourist destination number eight (via). VisitBritain, a merger between the British Tourist Authority and the English Tourism Council, was established in 2003 in order to market Britain internationally and to develop the visitor economy (via). When VisitBritain published a guidance for the tourism industry (how to treat foreign guests in hotels) reactions soon followed. At the beginning of this year, various internet sources quoted the dos and don'ts that were listed in VisitBritain's report ... with some sarcastic remarks.



The dos comprise:
- Understand that Indians are amiable but have a tendency to change their minds quite frequently.
- Deal promptly with any complaint from German or Austrian tourists, who can be straightforward and demanding to the point of seeming rude and aggressive.
- Ensure tourists from Russia - a tall nation - are housed in rooms with hight ceilings and doorways. (via)



The don'ts comprise:
- Exchange a smile or make eye contact with anyone from France who you do not know.
- Ask superstitious people from Hong Kong to sleep in a historic property or a four-poster bed because they associate them with ghostly encounters.
- Describe a visitor from Canada as American. (via)



Photos from Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel (via and via and via)

Moonrise Kingdom, Scouting & Religion

In 1906 and 1907, the military officer Robert Baden-Powell wrote a book for boys about scouting, a few years later a new organisation for girls (the "guides") was created. Today, Scouting and Guiding is practiced in many countries worldwide, such as Indonesia, Uganda, France, the Philippines, Pakistan, Nigeria or Japan (via).



The Boy Scouts of America recognises a wide range of religious affiliations (e.g. Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism) (via). Recent controversy rather refers to the non-religious than to the "different"-religious. Scouting has been criticised by the National Secular Society for putting non-believers off joining. The society quotes the obligatory scout promise that includes the line "to do my duty to God".



Nevertheless, the Scout Association seems to become more accessible. It launched a new range of clothing in 2012 following requests from a growing number of Muslim girl members (via). British designer Sarah Elenany created it with the aim "to highlight how the scouts are modernising, increasing diversity and responding to members". In UK Chief Scout Bear's words: "Scouting has something to offer everyone, no matter your religion, ethnicity or belief" (via). And the non-believers? While the core Scout Promise remains in place, this year, Guide leaders said that the promise to "love my God" was discouraging some girls and volunteers from joining and decided to change it. Instead, new Guides now pledge "to be true to myself" (via).



Photos (from Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, 2012) via and via and via