Dumb Tourist questions.

How do you answer questions that are so dumbfounding. you get stupefied racking your brain for a response?
AS a one who had  worked in the tourism industry, catering to tourist from around the world, I must say there are certain times when one is asked questions which are so silly, it is very difficult to give a straight-face response. Sometimes one wonders whether these tourist just brought their luggage but forgot to bring their brains when you consider the questions that are asked by them.

Here is a small compilation of the dumb questions tourist asks. For example, in Hong Kong, a colleague related to me this question by a tourist. “At what time do they fire the noon day gun?”
Also in Scotland, I am sure a tourist did ask this question, “At what time will they feed Nessie, the Loch Ness creature?”
And then there was the tourist who had asked the staff at the Miami visitor’s bureau
.”Please may I know which beach is closest to the ocean?”.
 How about the tourist visiting Niagara falls wondering and asking  “What time will they turn the water off?”.


My personal encounter with dumb questions was when I was based at a Thai  island resort guiding tourist. On a boat tour to surrounding snorkelling spots when out of the blue came this question.
 “Is there water on the other side of the island?” and “The sea is so blue here, what color is it on the other side?”

Comments from tourist can rate highly on the stupid side as well. The association of British Travel agents listed some of the dumber comments they had received from travellers.

From beach goers came this remark “ the beach was just too sandy!” Tourist to India had quipped ” It was so disappointing because almost every restaurant serves curry!”.  What about the British visitor to Spain who said “There were too many Spanish people!”

There is an anecdote about a very young couple who had booked a room at a resort hotel and of which they wrote to the hotel “My fiancé’ and I had booked a twin bedded room at your hotel but we were placed in a double bedded room instead. So now, we are holding you responsible for the fact that I have found myself pregnant as a  consequence”.

NEITHER CAN WHAT IS SAID CANNOT BE UNSAID..