Summary of the Key Points
This article highlights the contradictions behind the practice of "indulging tourists" in scenic areas: in order to attract visitors and avoid negative reviews, these areas become overly tolerant of tourists' rude behavior, resulting in frontline staff such as cleaners and NPCs (non-player characters) bearing the brunt of the conflict. They suffer humiliation and physical injuries without any protection. The root cause lies in the scenic areas' obsession with attracting visitors at all costs and the lack of effective management systems. The article proposes solutions, such as implementing strict rules, pricing emotional labor, and innovating in ways to promote civility, in order to balance the experience of tourists with the rights and well-being of the staff.
I. How Scenic Areas "Indulge" Tourists, Turning Staff into "Human Shields"
Scenic areas push their frontline staff to the forefront of conflicts in order to satisfy tourists:
- The Sufferings of Cleaners: At the Qingming River Park, tourists litter and dirty the ground by washing their hands with mineral water. When cleaners squat down to clean, tourists do not stop, and the park even prohibits them from criticizing the tourists, forcing the cleaners to endure the grievances in silence.
- The Physical Cost of NPCs: At Jiayuguan Fantawild, an NPC suffered a broken wrist after being forced to wrestle with a tourist. The responsible tourist disappeared, and the park, intermediaries, and media companies shifted blame back and forth, with the employee only receiving 20,000 yuan in compensation (far from covering the cost of surgery). There have also been incidents where NPCs were choked or slapped, and some even left the industry due to the degrading treatment. The park fails to stand up for its employees.
- A Common Problem: Employees, doing their jobs, are exposed to tourists' rude behavior due to the lack of preventive measures and insufficient authority, effectively making them the "human shields" for the park's mistakes.
II. The Root Cause of "Not Daring to Discipline Tourists": The Anxiety over Visitors Leads to Soft Rules
Why do scenic areas prefer to let employees suffer rather than criticize tourists? The main reason is the fear of negative reviews:
- The Importance of Reputation in Tourism: Tourists research and read reviews before traveling, and a single negative video can ruin months of a park's efforts. The spread of warning posts is much more powerful than positive reviews.
- Rules Become Unwritten Conventions: Scenic areas treat the prohibition on criticizing tourists as an absolute rule, which allows rude behavior to continue unchecked, giving tourists an exemption from consequences and stripping employees of their professional dignity.
- A Vicious Cycle: Fear of losing visitors → Inability to discipline them → Rules are compromised → Employees suffer, and the park trades their dignity for temporary positive reviews, ignoring the long-term damage this can cause to the rules.
III. The Ignored "Emotional Labor" of Employees
Scenic areas sell more than just scenery; they also offer the "emotional labor" of their staff (smiles, patience, restraint, etc.), yet this labor is often overlooked:
- The Example of Disney: Employees are required to maintain their character roles at all times, and even actors like Elsa have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after being harassed by tourists.
- The Difficulties of Domestic NPCs: NPCs must maintain a positive attitude at all times, even when wearing costumes, with the biggest challenge being the constant need to provide positive feedback.
- The Counterexample of Pang Donglai: Pang Donglai awarded compensation to employees who were verbally and physically abused by customers, totaling 392,000 yuan in 2025. This shows that emotional labor has a cost, and the system should recognize and address these issues rather than letting employees bear the burden on their own.
IV. The Way Forward: Making Rules Stricter and Supporting Employees
The solution lies in using systems to balance the rights of both tourists and employees:
- Strict Rules: Implementing tougher penalties, such as joint actions against tourists who deface landmarks and blacklisting them for up to three years. These measures can be extended across regions or even nationwide to increase the cost of misconduct.
- Pricing Emotional Labor: Recognize the emotional strain on employees through compensation, showing them that their hardships are valued.
- Innovative Approaches to Promote Civility: Integrating civility reminders into the experience, such as using animal-themed signs or making civility guidelines part of the visiting experience.
- Graduated Interventions: Starting with gentle reminders from staff, escalating to security intervention, and finally involving management, so that frontline staff are not left to deal with conflicts alone.
Conclusion: Scenic Areas Need to Think Long-Term
Indulging tourists is not wrong in itself, but it should not come at the expense of the staff. Scenic areas must ask themselves whether they want to continue using employees as "human shields" or if they want to establish clear service boundaries and protect the dignity of their staff. The answer is clear: only when employees are treated with dignity can tourists truly enjoy their experience, and the park's reputation will be sustainable. The challenge is whether scenic areas are willing to let go of their short-term obsession with attracting visitors and acknowledge the importance of protecting their employees' rights.