Welshman Upset With TripAdvisor Over Refusal to Publish Welsh Review
Jackie Reddy November 23, 2015
It hosts content in 28 languages, but much to the ire of Welsh-speakers, TripAdvisor has refused to publish a review in the Celtic tongue.
In Great Britain, TripAdvisor has caused controversy by refusing to publish a Welsh-language review. The piece, written by local tour guide Emrys Llewleyn, is a review of the Llŷn Maritime Museum in Nefyn, a coastal town in the northern part of the nation, where Welsh is widely spoken.
TripAdvisor has said that it will not publish Llewleyn’s review because it violates the website’s language policy.
While it currently operates in 47 countries and hosts content in 28 languages, TripAdvisor says that it is currently unable to support Welsh-language data. A spokesperson for the website explained, “We are not currently able to host reviews written in all of the world’s languages, but as the world’s largest travel site we are constantly exploring opportunities to extend support to additional languages worldwide.”
Local politician Arfon Hywel Williams, a Member of Parliament (MP) for Welsh national party Plaid Cymru, has criticized the site’s stance. “TripAdvisor accept single language reviews in a wide variety of languages from Czech to Norwegian, Serbian to Swedish and Vietnamese. I am amazed and disappointed they refuse to do so in the Welsh language. Do they suppose that Welsh speakers do not use their service?” he commented to Wales’ Daily Post.
A review in Welsh, he added, would be appropriate as the museum in question is located in a heavily Welsh-speaking area.
Williams has not only written to TripAdvisor regarding their language policy but has also brought the issue to the attention of Welsh Language Commissioner Meri Huws.
Llewleyn expressed his views to the paper, saying, “It’s incredibly disappointing. Welsh is a major language but TripAdvisor do not seem to think so.”
However, TripAdvisor provided further explanation regarding its rejection of Llewleyn’s review, adding that its current rules exist in order to maintain the site’s integrity. The company’s spokesperson added, “We have to ensure that every language in which we operate is fully integrated into our moderation and fraud detection tools and processes.”
According to a 2011 census, out of a population of 3.1 million people, over 560,000 people in Wales speak Welsh.
[Photo: Llyn Maritime Museum]
Welsh is a language of yesteryear only paraded by politicians with a backwards-looking agenda. Welsh needs to be consigned to the historical dustbin where it belongs.
If the site can't vet the review because the language isn't integrated into their system, they really can't publish it. You could say anything.
"Welsh is a major language" No, it's not. "but TripAdvisor do not seem to think so.” And they're right. 560k people does not a "major language" make, and very very few of those 560k don't also speak English.