Worst Tourists

[Olaf]

I hesitate to post this article. The only reason I'm going ahead is because it was on the BBC website. First let me say that I absolutely don't agree with it. The Brits I've run into at WDW have always been super people and very well behaved. I have feeling this poll was greatly influenced by youngsters who hit the Med every summer.

BBC

 

[Muppet]

One night when we were in Ohanas, a family of 10 made very rude comment to anther english family next to us. They said as they were european they should stick they're own disney ie Disneyland Paris. They proceeded to make very racist and vile comments about oriental people bascially stating the same. Stick to your own. It was an exceptionally well to do family, but I heard this repeatedly through out the holiday. Americans wanting it to be only americans at the parks. It wasn't as if it was that crowded.

We only had one run in which was funny but nasty also. We were waiting for a table in PH when a man said 'that the couple over there are first' he meant us. ' the *****(sp) girl and that man'. Being called hispanic is no big deal, I am white but have very dark hair and olive skin, the phrase in which he used was unjust. Nic had a word in his ear which soon shut him up.

Talking to other english people out there we got the impression that the americans want the money not the tourist.

Its a shame really. We have been 5 times and when I jot up what we have spent while we are out there its shocking.

 

[SidB]

I agree whole heartedly with the results of the survey. There are times when I'm embaressed to be British, particularly around the Med.

There are certain groups who make me cringe. I'm talking about the "why don't these foreigneres speak English" brigade. They won't speak a foeign language, treat the locals with disrespect, won't try local food, overindulge in booze, etc etc.

I know it's a gross generalisation, but we are very poor tourists. I don't think you see much of this behaviour in Florida, for several reasons. The language and food are familiar, and it's a family resort. It's relatively expensive compared to the Med and drink and drugs are not as readily available

Long may Florida remain off limits to these imbeciles.

 

[Muppet]

But have you ever noticed how many british people never leave tips in resturants, diners or buffets. That is one thing that really annoyes me.

 

[Goofyish]

I also agree about the being ashamed to be British when seeing the 'lager lout' behaviour of some British tourists in the Med.

As for Florida, I have never come across any anti-British comments or actions. In fact during our last visit in Oct.01 we had a number of Americans tell us how welcome we were; in light of the events of 9/11.

As for the tipping thing - I think this is a lack of understanding of US customs, rather than Brits. just being mean

 

[Astrid]

I have never had any cause to believe that we are treated any differently to the Americans whilst over in America and have always been treated hospitably.

I no longer have any desire to holiday in the areas of Europe which 'lager louts' (the media's term not mine) prefer, probably mostly to do with my age!!

However, I think it is a great shame that their actions have caused the bad name of some parts of the world. I talk mainly regarding Ibiza which is where my parents bought an apartment in the early '70's when the island was virtually unknown and it changed over the years from an idyllic tourist destination to a place which featured strongly in Fly on the Wall Documentaries and 18-30 holiday brochures. Luckily where our apartment was situated was on the less commercialised side of the island, but, I have to say that, in part, this change in the island led to us selling out apartment.

As for tipping .... I tend to agree with Tim, we, as a nation, I believe, tip to reflect good service and food and need perhaps to be re-educated to understand that in America it is a way of life and 15% to 20% is the norm, service or food notwithstanding.

I am sure I will be considered mean by Americans in that I will refuse to leave a large tip if the service has been bad and the food poor.

Rambling over!!

Astrid

 

[Scotfan]

I always said we were treated the same in Florida as the Americans until last year when we were at a restaurant near Clearwater with some friends of my parents(americans) who live near Sarasota. Well we didnt get a table and were kept waiting for ages and it was only half full. Then Dads friend went and had a word - the difference was comical. It made no difference that Dad was paying for everyone!
This has been a one off however in 5 trips.

 

[Olaf]

I've generally found that you get treated about as well as you treat others. Of course, there are exceptions.

Scotfan, it's just possible that it was plain old bad service and had nothing to do with your nationality. Or perhaps a group of Brits had previously stiffed the waitresses on their tips. I think Tim is probably right. My guess is that some Brits aren't aware that they work entirely for tips.

Astrid there is absolutely nothing wrong with not leaving a tip when service is bad. It's actually better to leave something like a dime or a quarter--that way they get the message.

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

I agree wholeheartedly with everyone's comments. We do not visit Europe much because of the way we get treated - and not surprisingly if our one trip to Majorca was anything to go by. I was ashamed to by labelled as British. Our hotel - and it was supposed to be 4 star (HAH!) was completely overrun by people who specifically went over there for two weeks of binging on the bottle. When we found a little two year old girl wandering along the outside of the pool wall - noone else around - we took her into the pit, sorry the entertainment suite - where we asked the guy with the mircophone to stop his bingo calling and put out an announcement to see if anyone was actually missing this poor child. His answer was that he couldn't stop the bingo until the end of the sessions "because he would be lynched". To say we were appalled doesn't even begin to cover what we felt.

The following evening . . . little girl wandering around pool.

We eventually got moved to a much nicer hotel - 3 stars - but internationally run rather than "exclusive to British holidaymakers". If I ever see those words again I would avoid that hotel like the plague.

That's why we go back to the USA each year.

 

[BevS97]

. It was an exceptionally well to do family, but I heard this repeatedly through out the holiday. Americans wanting it to be only americans at the parks.

I have never experienced anything like this at all. on the pretty few occassions when I have chatted with our guests at the park, they have all been very friendly and welcoming. Mostly they are just impressed that we have travelled so far, and come for such a long trip, as they tend to only be there for a few days.

I haven't seen any terrible behaviour in Majorca either, but then again, we don't go to Magaluf/Palma Nova but tend to head further north to the quieter family resorts. I can't say I am keen to head back to Majorca, because we found it rather dull compared to Orlando, but we didn't have any trouble with other tourists.

It is true that the British are appallingly bad at learning/using foreign languages, I think most of us learn French in school, but we tend not to use it when we are travelling. I only studied German, which unfortunatly is not much use in most holiday destinations. It doesn't help that most places you visit everyone speaks such good English that it hardly seems worth the effort to try.

Bev

 

[BONZO]

Well,

I'd also like to echo the sentiments here that others have posted.

Sometimes I see the behaviour of some Brits abroad and just shudder!

For Europe - the bad behaviour seems to come from the 18 - 30 crowd where it's their first holiday abroad on their own, lots of sun and booze is dirt cheap - a heady combination (been there - done that! )

On the whole, we are linguistically incompetent - just shout louder and slowly if not understood!


In the states we've had no problems except for being mistaken for Australians or even Germans!


Tipping - Hmmm - until recently it's not even figured in our culture except for Taxi cabs - but we are getting better at it.


Like Maxine - the only abuse I've seen or heard has been directed to Hispanic people - I've no idea why?

 

[richard3330]

We do not visit Europe much because of the way we get treated

I quite agree that, that is the case in many European countries. I agree with Bonzo, it seems to mainly come from the 'younger' crowd.

Whenever we have visited America, I have found the American's to be extremely welcoming and overall very nice people indeed. If Japan was closer, they knew a bit more English and it was a bit cheaper to get to, then we would be there every year - The Japanese have to be the most courteous nation of them all, they are so kind and helpful.

I also strongly believe that if service/food in a restaurant has been good, then a 15-20%+ tip is definitely compulsory. However if the service has been bad then I don't think a tip should be given at all.

Richard.

 

[Kevin Stringer]

I don't know what you mean about Brits being bad tourists.

If anyone says we are, I will drink loads of beer and vomit all over their shoes.

'Ere. Did you spill my pint?

Kev

 

[lisag1]

Mrs Dazzle,

Your holiday reminded me of one of ours a few years ago.... We had were talked into going to Lanzarote for the Millenium New Years and we booked into a Thompson Family Resort. To say we hated it was an understatement!!!! We had booked a 14 night holiday but in the end we decided to cut it short after 7 days and had to sit in the airport until they found us a flight home!! Since then we've stuck to the US.

Steph if only you could get Sky 1 in the US, you could see some of the lager lout Brits in action.... Goodness don't Sky think we've seen enough variations of Reps Abroad and the like?

Lisa

 

[pt415999]

I have to say, I've been to America six times now(not just Florida) and have never felt unwelcome at all. If you visit the biggest tourist attraction in the world, then it stands to reason that the people who live and work there want your money, but I've always felt that said people DO appreciate you spending your cash in their country and helping their economy.
That's just my opinion of course, but I wouldn't go back if I felt otherwise.


As for tipping, if it's worth it, tip, if it's not, complain(how else will they know?) and don't!

 

[Muppet]

I have been to Orlando 6 times and up until my last trip at Christmas would of agreed with all of you. We meet lots of new people from both Uk and USA and this time it was more of a 'can't you stay in your own country at christmas'. We do some business in florida and the company has relocated to Orlando from Jacksonville. He himself said that some not all americans would like some time when the tourists would stay away. We didn't do much disney after christmas as then its very busy as alot of americans travel down then.

As for Europe, watching the sky programmes makes you realise how awful the brits are especially the 18-30ish age group.

Its terrible how us brits act in Amsterdam also. We have only done city breaks as for us a holiday in spain etc is just not worth it anymore.

I think at times due to Sept 11 maybe they want a little time occasionally with out us tourists.

As for tipping, I have sat and watched english people enjoy their meal, have excellent service, quick refills and not even leave as much as a nickle.

 

[TigH]

Hope it's ok to add my 2 cents.

We have never encountered any rude British tourists since we've lived in Florida. As a matter of fact, we are always looking for an opportunity to chat with British tourists if we are visiting the parks and everyone we have met has been friendly.

When the Sanford airport was closed around the time of 9/11 we thought about going to the airport to see if we could put some British families up at our homes (my house or my parents house) but we weren't sure how the people stranded at the aiport would feel about coming home with "strangers" until things were sorted out with the airlines.

My father, my husband and I are going back to Sheffield again at the end of May and we are really looking forward to our trip. We're always treated nicely when we are in England and we enjoy all the people we meet. My cousin would love to book us a holiday weekend in Paris, but he says with the terrorist threats that he doesn't feel comfortable booking anything just yet (but I digress).

I think with all cultures there are nice people and rude people. I know plenty of racists/bigots who think everyone in the US should speak perfect English and that all foreigners should go back to their own country (it's attitudes like that that give us a bad names as a whole). Maybe it's a Pollyana way of thinking, but I'd love to think of the world as whole instead of a bunch of cultures and people divided. There are so many beautiful places I'd love to visit and I am naive in thinking I'd be welcomed anywhere I go.

So, if you are over visiting in Central Florida and a goofy family approaches you and asks where you are from and starts telling you about their family in Sheffield, run away quickly. We'll talk your ears off about how much we love England.

P.S. The Easy Street Cafe in Lake Mary on 17/92 has some good food! The owners are Welsh and English and they serve bangers and mash, sticky toffee pudding, and two nights a week they have shepards pie. The rest of the menu is "American" and pretty good! It's probably about 10-15 minutes from the Sanford airport.

 

[Mskanga]

OK, as a Spaniard myself I have seen both sides , I have seen the extremely rude , drunk type of people who don't hesitate to trash anything but I can tell you one thing, it's not only Brits who do that, it's everyone, Germans , French, Americans , Italian, Irish, British, you name it. I have seen this done over and over every year while I lived in Spain for 25 years of my life. Then I moved to the USA and I can tell you one other thing, this country has some people with big bigotry problems, fortunately they are outnumbered but when you bump into one or more of them, comments are made by them at the least, but not just about the Brits , about anyone they don't like.
I am Spanish born and raised, I have white skin and dark brown hair, in their own words I "don't look" Spanish and on top of that the little bit of accent I have is nowhere near what they would call Spanish, most of the time they take me for German. I can't tell you how many times I hear americans talk bad about any other people not their own race and how they should "go home" , someone did that infront of me once not knowing I was Spanish and let me tell you, her jaw dropped to the floor when I told her I was one of those people and that she should really watch what she says.
I have encountered people from many different countries in my several trips to Orlando and never found one that was rude, loud , or started a fight, but I have found some Americans that have done all of those things, fortunately not too many. So the bottom line is they have different opinions and labels about everyone without taking a good look at themselves.
This happens everywhere with everyone, not just British.

 

[JohnnySharp]

Ninth trip to Florida coming up.

Always felt the Americans were really friendly to us British.

Only issue is whether they know we are Brits in the first place, in my experience they just cannot work out our accent, I am from the North of England - Lancashire, the Americans just cannot pick out where we are from, in the past I have been called an Aussie, Canadian, Welshman you name it........in short I have always said that they reckon we are all supposed to sound like Prince Charles and Julie Andrews..anything North of London is well..Scotland!

 

[SidB]

Perhaps it's time to examine how we treat American tourists. I live near Oxford and see the way we treat them.