Ranked: The Ugly Tourist 2008
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I don't interact with many tourists aside from having to walk around them or through them as they stand in the middle of the sidewalk, top of the escalator, in front of the turnstile. I can't tell where they are from more often than not, but they range all colors and all languages I can pick up. When we travel, I'm not sure what the impression is, but I know that we don't interact with many other tourist as we like to go off the beaten paths and find outselves surrounded by locals. We try to be polite, try to speak in the local language as best as we can when reading menus and directions. Again, I'm not so sure what the impression or impact is because we travel on shoulder season either before or after the masses of tourists come to town. Right now we're trying to figure out where to go next, Mexico, Spain, Tunisia were on the short list. Not really sure what we'll do to be the tourist this year. |
I waited on a lovely couple from the UK last night. The woman told me that it was difficult to find white zinfandel across the pond. They were traveling to beautiful Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Living in a burgeoning city, it's always a pleasure to show hospitality to foreign guests. When I spent sometime overseas, I was disappointed in my fellow Americans in that many of them were critical of "weird food" or "backwards" practices. As far as our tour guide in Beijing, she shared that she didn't like Spoiler: a sensitive nationality due to being cheap. By the way, I loved visiting New York in February; you live in a great city, Cynthetiq. |
Why leave France? You've got some of the best beaches in Europe, the most famous capital, plenty of history, great food, etc.
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It is nice to see that Canada is high on the list. It is interesting to see that the French are the most rude. I wonder if Canada's ranking is negatively affected at all by our 25% French Canadian population when they travel.
Unless if the French Canadians are different when travelling abroad, they can be downright impolite by demanding it is their God given right to speak their language unconditionally at all times, and everyone should learn French just to appease that desire. Funny also is the Brits high standing. Maybe I'm just confusing impolite with pompous. And the Japanese. That from my perspective is deserved. They are always happy and polite, and their little kids are so gosh darn cute. |
Can Californians be separate from the rest of the country?
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No, just you... you're special. I wonder where Italians are on the list, Maybe I didn't read the article through very well but I only saw where they ranked regarding language. My hotel owning friend can't stand Italian tourists. A topic which ironically came up when we were discussing how we agreed everyone should be judged based on their individual traits and not their nationality. He said he's turned away several Italians over the years simply because they were jerks while trying to check-in. He suddenly realizes he doesn't have any rooms open. He said he always sends them to one of his competitors he doesn't care much for, who's an aunt of his (I didn't ask.) We were also discussing my then Italian neighbors who I thought/think are jerks. They freaking complain about everything and seemingly think everyone is out to rip them off. |
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did i forget to mention that ill be Istanbul Tukey in 3 weeks time??!!?!
get ready for another Gday from _____ Thread very soon! |
It seems that a high percentage of French Canadians I encounter at various eastern shore resort towns are exceptionally rude and crude. I've heard other people around here say the same thing.
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From the OP article:
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Last year, we went to the Grand Canyon. There was a very odd French family there. The father daughter relationship was a bit creepy and the other people in the group were rude.
Generally, I'm not a fan of tourist behavior, at least in Chicago. I'm sure the majority are fine, but it seems that there are the ones that have the mentality that they are on vacation so fuck everyone else. Which equates to, I'm going to be loud and obnoxious or take up the whole sidewalk and 'gawk and walk' because I haven't seen buildings this tall before. Plus, they're under the assumption that since they're in a city and city people are rude they must be that way to fit in... Nice, love that attitude. |
i've never been anyplace...how does one act someplace else?
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Yay stereotypes! Yay! :rolleyes:
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We get a lot of tourists here but most of them are Asian so I can't tell if they are being more or less obnoxious than ordinary as I am not familiar with the various Asian stereotypes (can you tell me how a Burmese tourist differs from a Philippino one?).
I do see a number of western tourists here, and have helped any number of them find their way. They have ranged from backpackers to business travellers and they have all been rather pleasant. Perhaps the greater distance to get here keeps bar high in terms of quality of tourist. |
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But I have to admit I've said and done some pretty stupid things while on vacation, hopefully not as bad as the ones I've posted above. I think it's easy to just put your brain in sleep mode while vacationing. Kind of like for 48 weeks out of the year you're "on duty," suddenly you're not. Suddenly you're carefree... and it shows. I was at Yellowstone National Park one time and heard a lady ask a ranger "what time at night do you put the animals away?" I thought she was joking, she wasn't. |
Oddly enough from my retail working years in a region that gets A LOT of Canadian traffic, I would have no problem saying my least favorite group of people were the French-Canadians.
They are loud. They are rude. They are fucking messy. Then they act like they don't speak English around you, but 10 seconds late you hear them speaking it to their friends. Fuck em' And this goes for a lot of them that I've met over the years. Also whats with the Jamaica-Canadians? They are like your ghetto of Canada. They come over on these bus trips for mass-retail shopping. I am so glad I'm done with that. They were worse than your French, or could be of the same. They were always around each other. My fav? Germans, Swedes, Norwegians, Hispanic/Latinos. |
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The French may be arrogant, and folks in the hospitality industry may be bothered by how they behave. Why is it not appropriate to react to and discuss the other, possibly even more interesting and significant information in the OP article? France is "the" destination, of all vacation destinations in the world, despite the impediment of a very strong currency (expensive) now in France. Why is that? I tried to show reasons for that, by sharing an article describing the decline in foreign tourism to the US. The French enjoy the most vacation days, why is that.....what does it mean? The article mentions how few vacation days Americans, on average, get....and it states that Americans do not even "take" all of those many fewer days....why is that? |
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In Pa, USA: No sales tax on clothes, shoes, and other essential items. And what is taxed is only 6% |
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I read the OP and I see a topic and a discussion of how tourists from differing nationalities are perceived by their host nationalities. Quote:
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Not exactly impartial opinions of the conduct and attitude of the French tourists, at least from the way the information gathering included in the OP was obtained. How is it that people of a country who are described and predicted to act so offensively when they travel, are the same people who vacation at home 85 percent of the time they are vacationing, are afforded ten percent of the entire calendar year as vacation days, and mostly vacation right alongside the huge influx of foreign tourists to their country? If the French are so objectionable, why is the rest of the world coming to their country in record numbers, to vacation alongside the natives of France? |
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If this is how you view the world, I guess it's a sad world since you cannot enjoy the simplest of things and understand nor appreciate them for their simplicity. Sometimes a simple setting of wine and cheese is just wine and cheese, not a metaphor or apparent discussion of Appellation d’origine contrôlée and how the government regulation creates hindrences to the small farmer. Quote:
"When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" -Abraham Maslow Maybe you need a couple more tools. I just have to ask, when someone talks to you about the weather do you reply with some sort of geopolitical rant about how the industiralized nations are creating acid rain and polluting the estuaries and watersheds? Or is is just as simple as, "It's rainy weather we're having lately." I doubt that the French Muslims that live in the ghettos of Paris that rioted in 2005 and again in 2007 enjoy that same wealth and prosperity. Ninth Nights of Riots NYtimes.com 2005 click to show 80+ Officers hurt in new French riots 2007 click to show |
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I found it really ironic that during my conversation with my hotel owning friend he would agree whole heartedly with the concept of "people are people, regardless." Then qualify it with "Well, except for the Italians, they're all assholes." I remember thinking "doesn't that completely negate the last ten minutes of our conversation?" |
90% of the populaton where i liver are either tourists or expats.
learn to live with other people dammit. we all have short comings no matter where we're from. if you're a dickhead, it matters not where you come from, you're still a cock. |
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