旅遊熱升溫 中國遊客涌入帕勞

Chinese tourists are flocking to the remote Palau islands as China's growing number of rich seek new frontiers abroad, but not everyone in the Micronesian paradise is happy about it.
隨着中國的富人越來越多，這些富人便開始尋求新的國外旅遊勝地。於是大批的中國遊客成羣結隊地涌向偏遠僻靜的帕勞羣島。不過，居住在這個被譽爲“密克羅尼西亞天堂”島上的人們並不開心。

Strapped into life-jackets and screaming with excitement, groups of boisterous Chinese thrill-seekers tear around Palau's "Milky Way" lagoon on a flotilla of speedboats -- a spectacle unfamiliar to locals just a few months ago.
吵吵嚷嚷的中國探險者們成羣結隊地乘坐快速遊艇在帕勞羣島的牛奶湖上四處穿梭。他們穿着救生衣，興奮的尖叫聲迴盪四周。幾個月前，這樣的場景在當地並不常見。

Residents of the archipelago, part of the larger island group of Micronesia, are baffled as to why Chinese travellers represented almost 62 percent of all visitors in February -- up from 16 percent in January 2014.
居住在密克羅尼西亞島羣中的居民對如此多的中國遊客蜂擁而至感到困惑。爲何中國遊客總數能從2014年1月的16%上升到今年2月的62%？

For businessman Du Chuang from Chengdu in China's Sichuan province, it is because his increasingly wealthy countrymen are becoming more adventurous, smashing the stereotype of the herded package tour.
在成都商人杜闖（音譯）看來，造成這種現象的原因在於中國人變得越來越有錢，他們更喜歡冒險刺激的旅行，不再滿足於成羣結隊的包團旅遊。

Du first started to travel by visiting Hainan, the Chinese island in the South China Sea currently witnessing a massive development of hotel resorts. He then ventured to Thailand before branching out to the Maldives.
杜闖第一次出門旅遊是去位於中國的海南島。現在的海南正在大規模地開發度假酒店。在這之後他又去了泰國，還去了馬爾代夫。

"The corals here are more beautiful than Sanya (on Hainan)," the 46-year-old told AFP, scrolling through photos on his phone of a $1,400 helicopter trip over Palau's Seventy Islands that he took his family on.
46歲的杜闖在接受法新社的採訪時說：“帕勞羣島上的珊瑚比海南三亞的好看多了。”他邊說邊翻看手機裏存着的和家人一起在帕勞七十羣島直升機之旅的圖片。這一直升機之旅需花費1400美元。

"Palau is small and magnificent," added the owner of a successful IT company.
這位成功的IT公司老闆說：“帕羅羣島雖然不大，景色卻十分壯麗。”

Hoteliers are catching on, with some establishments focusing on Chinese clientele booked out months in advance. At "Sea Passion Hotel" in Koror, 74 of their 75 rooms were occupied by Chinese visitors when AFP visited.
島上酒店的老闆們抓住中國遊客這一商機，他們的酒店早在幾個月前就被中國遊客們訂滿了。當法新社的記者到達位於科羅爾的百悅大飯店時，該飯店的75間客房中就有74間住着中國遊客。

On a beach Chinese women wearing full body suits to protect themselves from the sun pose for selfies with husbands and boyfriends in sleeveless vests, which they send to their friends back home in China's grey megacities.
沙灘上的中國女性把自己捂得嚴嚴實實以遮擋陽光。她們同身穿無袖背心的丈夫或是男朋友擺出各種姿勢自拍，並將這些照片傳給生活在國內空氣質量不太好的大都市的朋友們。

- 'It's like paradise' -
這裏像是一個天堂

Jia Yixin, a 30-year-old from Shanghai, didn't think twice about paying $1,133 (1,000 euros) for a six-day trip to Palau that she found online.
來自上海的賈藝馨（音譯）今年30歲，當她在網上看到帕羅羣島6日遊只需要1133美元時，她便毫不猶豫地選擇了付款。

"It is like paradise here," she beamed. "In Shanghai the air is polluted but here people respect the environment," Jia added.
她笑着說：“帕羅羣島像是天堂一般的地方。上海的空氣被污染了，而島上的人們卻很愛護當地的環境。”

Ironically it is the potential environmental impact of the Chinese invasion that is at the forefront of the minds of many of the islands' 18,000 population.
諷刺的是，大量中國遊客到這裏旅遊對當地來說是一種潛在的環境影響。這正是島上1.8萬名居民所擔心的問題。

Palau welcomed just shy of 141,000 visitors last year, up 34 percent on 2013, largely on the back of the Chinese visitors. But in February this year, mainland Chinese visitors leaped more than 500 percent year-on-year to 10,955 –- more than half Palau's total population.
帕羅羣島去年的遊客數量還不到14.1萬人，與2013年的遊客數量相比上升了34%，其中大部分爲中國遊客。然而今年二月，中國的遊客數是去年同期的5倍，達到10955人，比帕勞羣島總人口數的一半還要多。

Tourism accounts for close to 85 percent of Palau's gross domestic product (GDP), and while profits are up, some are worried the long-term damage may be too great.
帕勞羣島的旅遊收入將近佔其國內生產總值的85%。雖然當地的利潤增加了，但一些民衆還是很擔心這種長期潛在的危險會越來越嚴重。

"This is a very sudden influx, so we are trying to understand the situation" said Nanae Singeo, managing director of the Palau Visitors Authority, the local tourist board.
當地旅遊委員會——帕勞旅遊局的常務董事Nanae Singeo說：“這種人潮的大量涌入太突然了。我們正試着去了解情況。”

"We have never experienced this much tourism before and the magnitude is really giving us a lot of pressure. We are a very tiny country with scarce resources so this sudden increase is an unknown challenge for us," she added.
她還說：“在此之前我們從未遇到過這麼龐大的旅遊人數，這讓我們倍感壓力。我們國家的面積不大，資源匱乏，因此旅遊人數突然增加對我們來說是一種未知的挑戰。”

Palau has long catered for a particular type of visitor, with up to 70 percent of tourists coming for world-famous diving in stunning blue waters with pristine corals.
長久以來，帕勞羣島爲有特殊需求的遊客提供他們所需。帕勞蔚藍色的海水中遍佈着原始珊瑚羣，舉世聞名。70%的遊客正是慕名而來，想在此潛水嬉戲。

Japanese were traditionally the largest contingent, followed by Taiwanese and Korean visitors. But the majority of the new wave of Chinese tourists seem more interested -- for now at least -- in lounging on the beach.
這裏潛水的遊客中日本遊客佔大部分，其次是來自臺灣和韓國的遊客。但是最近涌入的中國遊客似乎更喜歡在沙灘上悠閒地躺着，至少現在看起來是這樣。

"We are not seeing a growth rate to match the number of visitors," said Singeo. "Tourists are up 34 percent so technically we should see economic benefits at the rate of 30 percent or more, but that's not the case."
Singeo說：“我們並未發現遊客數量的增加帶動了經濟的增長率。現在的遊客數量上升了34%，從學術角度來說，經濟效益至少應該要增加30%，但是目前並沒有出現這樣的情況。”

- 'They wreck corals' -
遊客破壞了珊瑚

On the streets of Koror, some accused Chinese people of being noisy and disrespectful towards the environment.
在科羅爾的街頭，許多當地居民對吵吵嚷嚷、不愛護環境的中國遊客頗有不滿。

"They wreck corals and throw their rubbish in the sea," chided Norman, a taxi driver.
出租車司機諾曼斥責道：“他們不僅破壞珊瑚，還把垃圾丟到海里。”

In another recent example, a Chinese tour operator named "Yellow Skin Tour" caused outrage in Palau with leaflets including photos of grinning Chinese tourists holding up turtles they had removed from the water -– in one case by its flippers.
除此之外，近日還發生了一起事件。一個名爲“黃種人旅遊團”的中國旅行社在帕勞激起了民憤。原因是他們的宣傳冊子上印有中國遊客笑着舉着從水裏撈出來的烏龜的照片。

Residents have also accused Chinese tourists of being responsible for the deaths of some jellyfish at the natural wonder "Jellyfish Lake".
還有一些當地居民認爲中國遊客要對水母湖中部分水母的死亡負責。

Visitors are encouraged to marvel at the harmless creatures by floating on the surface, but some locals complain that many Chinese lack swimming skills and thrash around, disturbing the wildlife.
遊客可以漂浮在海面上，近距離欣賞這種無害生物的美妙。但是，當地居民抱怨許多中國遊客不太會游泳，猛烈地拍打水面，影響了野生動物的生活環境。

The Palau government is exploring ways to try to stem the tide of Chinese tourists to the western Pacific Ocean archipelago and this week said the number of charter flights from China would be halved next month.
帕勞政府正在想方設法試着阻止中國遊客到太平洋西部羣島的旅遊熱潮。本週當地政府表示，下個月起中國飛往當地的包機航班數量將會減半。

President Tommy Remengesau said the move was not intended to discriminate against any nationality but was to prevent tourism from becoming too reliant on one market.
總統湯米•雷蒙傑索表示，這一舉措並沒有歧視某國民衆的意思，而是爲了使旅遊市場不過度依賴一個國家的客源。

"Do we want to control growth or do we want growth to control us?" he asked reporters. "It will be irresponsible for me as a leader if this trend continues. I am not only looking at the present but, as a leader, I am looking after tomorrow."
“我們要控制遊客增長還是遊客增長控制我們？”他反問記者，“如果讓這一趨勢繼續發展下去，那我就會是一個不負責任的領導者。作爲一個領導者，我不僅要着眼於現在，還要放眼未來。”

But the number of hotels, restaurants and guides in Palau now catering for a Chinese market would suggest that citizens of the world's second-largest economy are likely to keep coming.
但是在帕勞當地，爲了滿足中國市場需求而出現的酒店、飯店和導遊則說明，作爲世界第二大經濟體，中國的老百姓很有可能會繼續涌入帕勞旅遊度假。

Vocabulary

boisterous：喧鬧的，吵鬧的

flotilla：小型船隊

pristine：未經開發的，原始的