Chinese tourists allege discrimination in Maldives resort

A luxury resort in Maldives has been accused of discriminating against Chinese tourists by not providing them with electric kettles and purposefully preventing them from eating instant noodles in their rooms.

A luxury resort in Maldives discriminated against Chinese tourists by not providing them with electric kettles, purposefully preventing them from eating instant noodles in their rooms, a former Chinese employee of the resort said.

Hot water kettles were removed from the rooms of Chinese guests, but not from rooms occupied by Europeans, because the resort's manager believed that the Chinese were skipping meals in the restaurant, Zhao Jianke, a former guest service manager at the Beach House Iruveli (TBHI), a five-star resort in northern Maldives said.

Zhao and several other Chinese employees quit their jobs in February after security personnel "launched 24-hour surveillance of the Chinese employees, confiscated their phones, blocked their Internet and controlled their external communications," state run Global Times quoted Zhao as saying.

The resort said in a statement that some kettles were damaged by guests cooking food, according to the South China Morning Post."The Chinese market is very important for us and they are always warmly welcome at the Beach House Iruveli. As a result of the defamatory accusations against the Beach House Iruveli our legal representatives have been engaged," the statement said.

Zaho's webpost which went viral on Chinese version of Twitter, triggering heated discussion on the Internet, with Web users who travelled to Maldives saying instant noodles were necessary as they were not accustomed to local dishes.

According to state-run Xinhua report, 2.30 lakh Chinese tourists visited Maldives in 2012, more than any other nationality.

ALSO READ

Airfares: Travel agents to keep shutters down on Tuesday

Iceland may soon become 'Let's Get Lost Land'

Mirah opens Rajdhani restaurant in Chandigarh-Mohali, Ludhiana, Amritsar next in line

Travel firms eye globetrotting farmers to sell overseas tour packages