Guess Who Has The World's Worst Behaved Tourists

Not exactly a mind stretcher is it, well done UK !!!!

Ok, so it's an old link (2002), anyone know who this year's winner is?

news.bbc.co.uk...




[edit on 16-6-2007 by Retseh]

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Quote Reference (review link)

[edit on 17-6-2007 by UK Wizard]

its the chavs and party animals (Teenagers)
they were and are the largest majority that go abroad and paint a bad picture for this country

Most of the UK tourist I have met here in LV have always been decent and well behaved, lots of UK tourist here they like to gamble it seems.

Most of the British tourists I've met here in the U.S. have been pretty nice, but traveling throughout Europe (outside of the UK) I have found them to be very loud and rude.

That seems strange all the Brits I've run into have been very nice. I've had good experiences with them both here in the US and abroad. When I was visiting England and stationed in Scotland I was always treated with courtesy and respect. I appreciated it very much.

[edit on 16-6-2007 by gallopinghordes]

I think it's down to where this survey was conducted. If it was in Europe we are bound to have been bottom, becasue we are generally not well liked. And there are plenty of places where this kind of behaviour ( Rudeness,linguistic incompetence) is almost encouraged, Prague, Amsterdam. Then you have Spain which has many many loutish english going for their once a year break. But i think once you are out of Europe we behave alot better becasue there are then real differences between us and the locals and we do not want to offend, unlike in europe. When i was in Peru the english abroad there were generally well liked much more than compared to Americans but i suppose thats down to geography as well.

I met heaps of English tourists here in Australia in 2003 when i was caravaning around the country and they were all really good people. The younger ones partied pretty hard, but they were never any trouble, and they did get us out partying with them.
Most of the europeans we met and a few Americans were all good, the worst of the lot was a group of Italian guy's at a park in Melbourne who showed absolutely no respect for anyone but that is probably just an anomaly.
It would be hard to get an unbiased survey of this sort as a previous poster said, as depending on who conducts it and in what country you are bound to get different results.
Even the Barmy army behaved themselves (mostly) during the last ashes flogging. (sorry, had to slip that in chaps)!!

The worlds worst tourists have to be the Brazilian School kids that go to Walt Disney World. You have to experience it yourself to realize what I am talking about. I would rather be with a bunch of drunken Football fans on the way to the World Cup than be next to a group of School kids from Brazil. They are that evil. Brits are fine by mean, never had an issue with one traveling.

Jeremy Clarkson makes a rather amusing response to this 'poll', which I have to say is pretty funny... although I imagine some of you will loathe him since he's a pretty divisive figure

Yes, we have our share (or perhaps more than our share) of idiots and they seem to have a bigger impact than decent British tourists on hoteliers and so on. But the posts of the vast majority of people so far in this thread seem to paint a different picture.

It depends where you go, really. If you go to Spain or Greece, expect many (most?) British tourists to be loud, young and drunk. Tourism props up a lot of areas in Spain, though, so the Spanish don't complain too loudly. Places like France, Italy, the US, Canada, Australia etc. tend to attract a different kind of tourist... and I'd imagine a lot of Brits who go abroad deliberately avoid some places because they know they might bump into some of their fellow compatriots!

Indeed. Depending where you go, you'll get a different species of Brit.

Costa del Sol in Spain is where the Essex wide boys and Chav's go for their bargain breaks. Same with the Greek Islands. Even the majority of Brits will avoid these places as anyone who goes there is there for one reason. Getting pissed...And shagging. Okay, that was two reasons, but they go hand in hand.

The more respectable species of Brit appreciated foreign cultures and it is why we visit other places. We don't want to go to a "Little Britain" resort where you drink lager till dawn and eat Fish and Chips.

I'd rather go to Rome, see the sights and dine out with the missus in some romantic restaurant before taking advantage of the quality wine she has been drinking......

I always thought Americans were stuck with that label. Something must have drastically changed over the last year.

I think all nations probably have their idiot youth element, some just keep it confined to their own country and at certain times of the year.

If idiot drunken young Brits can be a pain in the a$$ in Spain or Greece during the summer then I'm sure the same can be said for young Americans in Florida on 'spring break'.
It's the same kind of thing.

Yeh, we aussies behave badly, we just do it at home mostly. You should see some of the antics at 'desperate and dateless balls'.

Ahh those were the days.

I really never would have expected that.

I always figured and have generally heard that us Americans are the worst tourists,
being rude and not giving any thought to local culture and language, though to be
fair I have always though that was a bit exaggerated.

Anyhow, I've never ever met a rude English person, and I've met several, both tourists
and those who were living here.

Hmm... I think a lot of Americans stay within the United States if they go on holiday, iori. It's a huge place with a diverse range of areas to visit so there's not as much need for Americans to leave their country. I remember last time I was there (just under a year ago) in Florida there were a lot of American tourists too from all across the country. I'd be interested to see the figures, anyway.

It should be noted that Americans were not allowed to be a part of the competition as it would be unfair to include professionals in the amateur field. The United States offered to have themselves classified as Americans other than Texans but the folks being polled still felt that the US, as a whole, was so far ahead of the pack, and so universally accepted as the worst, that they still felt it was not a level playing field.

The United States of America. The best at everything. Including being the worst.

"Other than Texans," huh? I don't understand what you are saying. Are you saying that Texans didn't want to be classified as Americans?

The reason is that a self respecting Texan, a real Texan, would not want to be associated in any way, shape or form with the George Bush type of Texan. In other words, since Bush is now an adopted " Texan " it is shameful to BE a Texan, as Bush will by his very nature sully any entity or place by virtue of his twisted, demented and corrupt mind and soul.


ANYWAY, back to the topic : I think that yes, young Brits do tend to be loud, boisterous, crude and drink too much alcohol while on holiday, especially, as observed above, if they are in areas traditionally known for tolerance of ' hard partying '. I have seen many in Amsterdam making absolute fools of themselves in numbers that seem to say something...BUT
I really feel that a lot of this is PERCEPTION.

Young British youths, many soccer fans, spend a lot of social time in pubs. Pubs can be known for loud singing and music, non stop rounds of lager, and youthful exuberance expressing itself in a pretty normal way for a society that encourgaes alcohol consumption but discourages the use of calming and insightful substances.

The atmosphere in an American bar would be totally different. Unless music were the main theme, it would be quiet except for occasional laughter from groups, etc. but NOT a boisterous or loud atmosphere in general. Americans NEVER, EVER join together in singing a song. Unheard of . In America, if you sit at a table, you would be offended and alarmed if some stranger sat down with you without an invitation. Unthinkable. That is YOUR table, not the establishments. See what I mean?

Social norms have to be taken into account when judging a small and specific segment of any population; take youth between 15 and 25 and of course you will find the most alarming incidents occuring in that age range. And considering the fact that young Brits are used to behavior that we might find too loud or exuberant , I think that they should not get classified as some societal menace before we take every factor into account. Sure they are a nuisance at times and in some places their conduct is simply unacceptable, but blowing off steam the British way need not be made to be more than what it is: Freewheeling kids doing what they and their parente have always done; hoist a few ( or more ), sing a song, support the team and don't do any of it quietly!!

Americans tend to be more demanding of services and impatient with ques and formalities. Money is God and so they want to see results for their outlay. Americans in general, thankfully not all, tend to believe the old claims that " We are # 1. We are the biggest and richest and everyone wants to be us..." attitude. So many Americans lack the civility and manners to wait for local customs to satisfy their desires and demand more than polite or usual. In Holland , service is considered so slow and inefficient that it is the major gripe for us. In England, local oddities in culture, closing laws that limit pub hours, etc, are seen as quaint but a bother if it interferes with a desire.

So we all are a little strange in ways but unless real crimes are committed or serious harm done, I say let the lad blow it off this way rather than in a worse way.

actually, my joke had nothing to do with the potus. Rather, I was making a reference to the global view of americans which tends to lean towards the boisterous, loud type which is something almost every texan I've ever met is like but most americans outside of texas aren't often as loud. this was made in jest so please don't start defending the fine state of texas. I have friends from all over the state and they're all louder 'n hell and that's part of what makes them so much fun.

This story's five years old, but I love this:



I always thought it was the Americans who had the worst reputation abroad.

I guess some things die hard.

en.wikipedia.org...

www.cnn.com...

www.telegraph.co.uk

[edit on 2007/6/30 by GradyPhilpott]