ABSTRACT
So here’s a useful development for number-crunching pedagogues. A little report last week alleged that a leading European holiday park company is charging people up to £126 more if they book in English, through a British website and giving a domicile here. Germans, Dutch, and other Europeans are not surcharged. We are. There was the usual chuntering of complaints about ‘rip-off Britain’, but a company spokesman apparently said that it was justified. It is their attempt to recoup some of the cost of hiring multilingual staff to deal with British visitors, both during the booking process and when they actually turn up. British visitors, it appears, do not speak foreign languages. Well, there’s a surprise.
