47% of Brits Choose Not to Respect Others’ Culture When Taking a Journey

Based on a recent survey by Trainline, 47% of British holidaymakers said they chose not to respect other’s mores and cultures when they take a journey.

When asked, nearly two-thirds of the 2,000 travellers from the UK questioned about their holidays said they do not check out the food and culture of the place they are going, and more than 70% say they never stretch to experience the local benefits of being on vacation.  Having said that, there is hope; over 25% of respondents claimed that they do try to learn a few phrases in the primary language of their destination prior to arrival there.

As stated above, the British are also not very social, with almost one-half of those on a journey indicating they do not display any regard for different, local cultures.

Let’s face it:  Brits do not have the best reviews in the tourist department.  Some of the reasons cited are that UK visitors:   instigate fights at football contests as tourists; are terrible at other languages; are loud, and are drinkers.

But now we have some evidence, as a recent survey found that almost half of British tourists choose not to respect a country’s culture when they visit.

Trainline describes attributes of a “discerning traveller” are:

• having visited more than 21 countries
• going on wine tasting tours
• owning more than three different foreign plug adapters
• learning some of the languages before the trip.

Yet, almost three-quarters of Brits wouldn’t dream of striking up a conversation with a stranger abroad.

But it’s not all bad news. British tourists, the average of whom travels nearly 16,000 miles each year, are becoming much more aware when it comes to soaking up the local culture.  Sightseeing is preferred at about 57% as opposed to spending a night on the town when on holiday.  In addition, 51% of the survey respondents indicated a preference to eat at local restaurants rather than at more commercial establishments.  In fact, nearly a fifth of people said they have a favourite place to eat in at least five different European cities.

It certainly could be true that some people may be heading off the well-travelled roads for new experiences, it could just be to keep up appearances.  British tourists spend nearly three hours taking photos on holiday; snapping on average 34 pictures over the entirety of the trip, and with over 15% updating social media with holiday photos every day of the trip(s).

Just how worth it might be if we set down the phones, stop taking pictures and posting, and actually look at the scenery and talk to the local people who are a part of it?