A holiday to remember by Claudia Sonea

This year China seduced many tourists in spending their holiday in the tiny gambling enclave of Macau, a territory that was under Portuguese ownership until 1999 when it was returned to China. However the choice proved to be one of the worst and ended with a riot against tour guides and even against the police. Around 2.4 million tourists traveled to Macau since October and nearly half of them were from mainland China, according to government figures. The points of attraction are easy to be seen due to the fact that big-name U.S. casino operators such as Las Vegas resort owners Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn develop the retail and gambling industry. Moreover, Macau combines European heritage (Portuguese language and several U.N.-declared World Heritage sites) and Chinese culture. Everyone that decided to spend the holiday there has suffered a tremendous shock, but the blame falls on both sides: tourists have been too aggressive and the police shouldn't have used force to calm down spirits. The conflict was created because the local guides took the tourists to see too many shops and they missed the purpose of their visit: the historical sites in the territory. It seems a problem of communication that should have been solved diplomatically by the two sides involved, nevertheless police officers were sent to deal with the matter which involved more than 100 tourists, according to police spokesman Pun Siu-tong. The tourists did not receive the peacemakers very well and injured one officer after which they surrounded the police car preventing them from leaving. In consequence more than 40 police armed with riot gear and batons were then dispatched to handle the situation, said Pun busting the rumors that the police were from Macau's riot squad. Official figures showed that four police officers were injured, while five tourists were charged with creating a public disturbance and confronting police. All in all, police is not completely guilty for the incident that damaged the territory's reputation as Macau lawmaker Antonio Ng presents it. For something so easy to solve like guides there was no need for brutality or strike. Tension has finally showed that we are indeed fragile when it comes to temper. Angry and unhappy tourists coming to relax and enjoy broke down and lost their calm. How the famous rapper Eminem says it: temper, temper!

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20071205/ap_tr_ge/travel_brief_macau_angry_tourists;_ylt=AvYZq0tBz7BY3m8v.h44gb2s0NUE

by Claudia Sonea for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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Edited by Zuzana Tylkova