CouponCodesPro.com Reveals The Top 5 Most Annoying Tourist Traits
You know who they are. You see them in the streets attempting to get that perfect shot for the scrap book to share with friends and family back home unaware of oncoming traffic. You watch them trounce around your city loaded down with cameras, smartphones, and your hometowns’ logoed t-shirt.
Well now city dwellers in some of the U.S.’s most beloved cities are pointing fingers at the most annoying habits tourists have from asking for directions, blocking the sidewalk to take photos and not tipping appropriately are among the most irritating habits ranking the highest.
Curious social scientists have been examining how Americans interact with tourists in their Chicago, Orlando, New York, San Francisco and Washington D.C. in an ongoing study sponsored by CouponCodesPro.com.
People were asked questions, such as, “Do you ever find tourists annoying?” and “What trait do you find most frustrating about the tourists visiting your city?”
Turns out that while tourist fill the city’s coffers a majority of these popular cities residents aren’t as thrilled with outsiders, with 63 percent of respondents saying, “Yes,” we do find tourists annoying. Only 37 percent say they don’t find tourists annoying.
Out of the people who say tourists are annoying then picked out traits that frustrate them the most from a list, with the option to select all. The top five most annoying tourist traits by city are:
- New York – Asking for directions (40%)
- San Francisco – Stopping in the middle of the sidewalk to take photos (35%)
- Chicago – Not tipping appropriately (32%)
- Washington D.C. – Walking too slowly so that they can look at everything (27%)
- Orlando – Asking you to take their photo (26%)
Well, that’s not the friendly and welcoming American we know.
“We’re all guilty of finding tourists annoying when we feel it affects us, especially if we are in a rush to get to work or go about our daily lives, however most of us are also guilty of being those frustrating tourists when we’re off on our own travels,” says George Charles, spokesperson for CouponCodesPro.com.
“We’re constantly so busy throughout our day-to-day lives that tourists become a nuisance when asking for directions or help or stopping to take photos, but it’s important to remember that, without tourists, the economy of our towns would suffer, with knock-on effects for local business. They chose to vacation to the beautiful cities we are lucky enough to live in. Perhaps this should be a reminder of what is on our doorsteps, so we take a moment out here or there to look around us and appreciate our cities.”
So, what happens when the traveling shoes are on the other foot?
When researchers asked the residents if they ever practiced these behaviors they find annoying when visiting other cities, an overwhelming majority of them confessed that yes, 76 percent, are guilty of these same habits when travelling. Only 24 percent say, “No,” they steer clear of these frustrating tourist traits.
Of the tourist-friendly Americans, researchers asked them to share their thoughts on travelers visiting their city. The respondents were presented with a list of potential responses and asked to select the one that most applied, the majority of respondents agreed that, “Tourists remind me how great my city is” (28%) and that they “Like speaking to tourists to hear about their travels and share insider knowledge” (21%).
Now that’s the travelling spirit!
By the way, this study was conducted as part of ongoing research into how Americans interact with tourists in their cities. The 3,216 people, all of whom were aged 21 or over, were split evenly between New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC and Orlando. They were asked what they thought of the tourists in their city and what they like to do when they are a tourist themselves.
To put your traveling shoes on, contact Heather Cassell at Girls That Roam Travel at Travel Advisors of Los Gatos at 408-354-6531at or .
To contract an original article, purchase reprints or become a media partner, contact ">editor [@] girlsthatroam [.] com.
