It may not be true for everything, but this story certainly has two sides: Numbers of restaurants in Bruges, Belgium, a hot tourism destination, offer 10% discounts to local residents.
The restaurants say they are helping locals stay afloat in the face of gentrification and price pressure from tourism; some visitors and reporters view it as an unprincipled rip-off of travelers. In fact, the two sides can’t even agree whether to call it a discount for locals or a surcharge for strangers.
In most cases, the special discounts aren’t listed on menus; restaurant staff simply apply them to those whose accents they recognize as local. The owner of a popular chip shop defended the practice, saying “Ten per cent discount in Bruges, yes, that is explicitly on the receipt. Why do we do that? For the regulars. We do not only aim at the mass tourism, but also building a relationship with whoever comes here often. I’m not going to ask anyone for his passport. I can hear it if someone is from here: if you speak the dialect, it is good for me.”
It appears the practice is legal. It’s also applied to visitors from other parts of Belgium whose accent doesn’t pass muster. The mayor, Renaat Landuyt, defends the practice, and claimed it helps keep prices down for locals in a city that has become very expensive.
Dialect coach, anyone?
