At the beginning of September, the UK government will implement a law against loud music from cars which are cruising the streets of London, according to Dr. Nasser Al-Tayyar of Al-Tayyar Group.
According to a report in Al-Watan newspaper, the move come as part of a number of decisions that aim to deal with the problems of tourists in London.
Loud music and noise from cars owned by Gulf tourists have been disturbing residents in London neighborhoods, and have prompted the British government to issue a law that penalizes owners of these vehicles.
In a statement to Metro newspaper several days ago, Nick Brown, head of the Council of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, said: “The area has unfortunately become a destination for tourists from the Gulf who enjoy speeding in their cars and creating never-ending disturbances.”
These developments in Britain in response to the behavior of Gulf tourists coincide with recent developments in the Czech Republic and Austria where local governments and civilian demonstrations have protested about what is seen as the negative behavior of Gulf tourists.
“As service providers, we do not have any authority over tourists who seek to benefit from our services, but there must be awareness and education via media and social networking sites, as well as in schools and mosques and elsewhere, in order to ensure tourists improve the image of the Kingdom abroad and do not jeopardize its reputation through inappropriate behavior,” said Al-Tayyar.
He said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has distributed pamphlets among all families traveling abroad that clarified rules and regulations in destination countries, noting that even the act of striking one’s children is a violation in some countries. Unfortunately, Gulf citizens do not comply with the rules, he said.
“Our office sends messages to travelers, but tourists often do not follow local rules and regulations despite large fines,” he said.
What is happening in European countries and elsewhere has become a phenomenon rather than isolated incidents, he said. He noted that some Saudi tourists have never traveled abroad before and thus continue to behave as if they were still in the Gulf states.
The Saudi Embassy in London issued 13 tweets that warned tourists from the Kingdom not to misbehave in public or violate local rules and regulations.
Source: Arab News
