Air China Magazine To Chinese Visitors of London: Avoid Indians, Pakistanis and Black People
CNBC reported that Air China's Wings of China Magazine published an article for Chinese people visiting London and a portion of the article was dedicated to tourist attractions in Britain's capital and other famous towns such as Oxford. The main article was titled "London the city of 'hat tricks'," because Brits' has an apparent fondness for all kinds of hats.
However, after a section on transport options and lifestyle and cultural activities were described, Wings of China offered some "Tips from Air China" for Chinese tourists in London. The tip is not exactly appropriate for an Airline magazine.
"London is generally a safe place to travel, however precautions are needed when entering areas mainly populated by Indians, Pakistanis and black people," China's flagship carrier advises. "We advise tourists not to go out alone at night, and females always to be accompanied by another person when traveling."
The potentially discriminatory advice goes against the beliefs of London's fist muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan who was born from Pakistani parents.
Last July he launched a #LondonisOpen campaign and frequently blogs about his favorite places to eat and drink in his South London Indian-Pakistani neighborhood of Tooting CNBC said.
CNBC reports that Britain is an increasingly popular destination for Chinese tourists. According to government agency VisitBritain, more than 270,000 Chinese visited Britain in 2015, up 46 percent from 2014. This was after the number of Chinese tourists doubled in the five years to 2014. Chinese visitors spent 586 million pounds ($786 million) in total in Britain in 2015, up 18 percent on 2014.
In January this year, Britain started a new, two-year, multiple-entry visa in a bid to attract even more Chinese visitors to its shores, following changes made in 2015 that allowed tourists and business travelers to apply for both British and European visas in a single process.
Air China's Wings piece comes at a time when Chinese companies have been criticized internationally for their depictions of various races. In May, a Chinese laundry detergent-maker apologized for an advertisement that showed an Asian woman shoving a dirt-smeared black man into a washing machine, only for him to emerge as a clean Asian man.
Some Western media called the ad, which ran on Chinese social media platforms, "the most racist commercial ever."
Air China did not respond to CNBC's request for comment on its London safety tips.
