Imagine a picture of an American tourist in Europe, a certain cliché is bound to spring to mind. Maybe you imagine a loud, bumbling, unruly traveler who is part of a large tour. cultural customs Or who does not speak the language of the country and is impatient with tourist attractions. restaurants.
Are these stereotypes true? Are these stereotypes outdated and don’t reflect the majority of US travellers? A new study sheds some light on the subject.
How do Europeans view American travelers? Upgraded Points Over 2,200 people from 22 European nations were asked about their perception of US tourists. The travel credit card Advice site also asked Europeans if recent political events had influenced their opinions. As a comparison, they also asked 1,000 American travelers about their opinions of the typical US traveler.
How Europeans see American tourists
Overall, Americans had a harsher opinion of themselves as tourists compared to European respondents. “Americans tend to think the worst of themselves, while Europeans view a balanced but louder picture,” said the study.
The one thing that both groups agreed on was the fact that American tourists are loud. While 69% agreed with Europeans, 70% of Americans said loudness is an American tourist trait.
But volume aside the Europeans have a very positive view of US tourists64% of European respondents said that US tourists were friendly (compared with just 44% who agreed) and 46% said they were curious.
American respondents were significantly more likely to perceive themselves negatively when it came to their less endearing traits than Europeans. Over half of Americans (53%) said that US tourists were arrogant, compared to only 27% of Europeans. In the same way, 40% of Americans believe that US tourists are rude while only 12% agree.
Some Europeans believe that some of the stereotypes are true. As an example, 61% of US tourists believe that everyone in Europe speaks English. Meanwhile, 30% say Americans ignore local customs.
Where are Americans the most annoying to Europeans?
The survey also revealed the European countries Which countries are the most and least annoyed by American tourists? Most annoyed are Portugal Belgium (18.3%), Ireland (17.4%), Netherlands (14.9%), and Denmark (14.8%) are among the countries that have reported being annoyed by US tourists.
Poland is one of the countries that respondents say they are least annoyed by American tourist. Only 7% of participants in the survey said that they find American tourists annoying. Spain 78%, UK (8.8%), Greece (9.6%), and Latvia (9.6%).
The European countries which welcome Americans
The report also looked at which European countries rated themselves the most and least welcoming for US travelers. Belgium Only 1.9% of respondents said that their country is not welcoming to American tourists. Belgium’s warm welcome was closely followed Italy Finland (3%), Estonia (3%), Netherlands (3%) and Poland (3%) are the top five countries.