Global Q&A: ‘What’s the strangest question you’ve ever been asked by a foreign tourist?’

Antonia Stefanaki, Greece (The Epoch Times)

“Are there camels in Sweden?” and other such questions provide amusing moments for tourism workers is what Epoch Times reporters from Athens to New York discovered when they asked locals:

Athens, Greece Ariadni Ribeiro, 29, Tour Leader One Brazilian tourist asked me if I wanted to marry him and go with him to Italy for vacations in order to meet each other better. He told me that he came to find the love of his life in Greece. He only knew me for 20 minutes. A friend of mine once told me that a tourist asked her where we can see the Taj Mahal in Greece and also once somebody asked me if it’s possible to go to Mykonos Island by metro.

Malmo, Sweden Katharina, Pejov, 51, Health Promoter Some years ago, I was sitting in a camel conference in Oman and I got this question from a person: “Are there camels in Sweden?” I thought it was a bit funny.

Lima, Peru César Vanoordt, 65, Hotel Administrator The strangest thing that foreign tourists asked once was where was the zoo? This district where the hotel I work at is located is called Barranco. It really has a very small population, but it is a popular tourist area. Then I learned that many years ago there was indeed a zoo there that later became a house of culture. Barranco was an exclusive place for people of high society.

New York, USA Habib Jaber, 21, Souvenir Shop Manager I [have] had a lot; I’ve been here for three years. They asked me once why New Yorkers dress like this; why [do] you guys dress like this.

Itatiba, Brazil André Rossi de Lara, 26, Tour Agency Employee Once we received Italian tourists here at the agency, who wanted to visit Brazil. I spoke Italian with them. They were senior traditional Italians of the Tuscany region. The strange question is that they wanted to know the distances of places. But they had no notion that in Brazil the distance was very, very relative compared to Italy. To go from one place to another they lingered [takes] two hours in Italy, here [in Brazil] it was four hours. It was really fun to serve them.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates Shammy Jayasuriya, 23, Marketing and Tourism Student/Professional Dancer When I was doing an internship at a tourism company, I was asked by someone from Barcelona if there were any nude beaches in Dubai.

Zaragoza, Spain María Victoria Lecuma, 59, Stationery Store Owner Usually in a business as this one, foreign visitors tend to pass by. Their questions tend to be about normal things like how to locate certain places, or how to go from here to wherever. I can’t recall any strange or weird question in recent times, so I’m sorry that I cannot be of use.

Puerto Montt, Chile Roxana Vasquez, 46, General Accountant In general the foreign tourists, especially the Europeans, are very careful in formulating their questions. Rarely are their questions not logical or full of sense, but either for our idiosyncrasy they seem to us funny. I remember that once a European tourist asked me something very unusual about a Chilenism (idioms of the native dictionary). He turned and he showed something of his skin, and someone as a joke told him that he showed the loose thread (no inhibitions), and then the tourist asked; “What is to show the loose thread?” This is the rare situation I have experienced with foreign tourist.

Look for the Global Q&A column every week. Epoch Times correspondents interview people around the world to learn about their lives and perspectives on local and global realities. Next week’s global question: “What makes [your exotic animal] a great pet?” The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.