Originally posted by toneart
"I have lived in many desirable locations; San Francisco, Sausalito, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mx.,Santa Fe, N.M. and Nevada City, CA. All
these places attract tourists.
I worked for Pan Am,also as a tour guide for a tour company in my 20s, and as a bartender in famous, busy establishments in my 40's and 50s. Many if
not most tourists were obnoxious when out of their own familiar territory. They were rude, wore funny clothes and were generally ignorant; perhaps
fearful too. (Later in life I sometimes traveled with culture driven groups who were in it for the art or cultural education). There was a tremendous
difference."
Tony- Your post got me to thinking (which I do on occasion). I haven't spent much time trying to compile any sort of record, but it does seem to me
that the whole tourism issue, host v. guest is complex. We have traveled extensively over the years. What has probably struck me most is that there
seems to be no pattern I can identify. I do think that by and large, the most obnoxious tourists tend to be American and French. They both tend to
exhibit a sense of superiority. German tourists tend to be very nice. But when touring Germany, as hosts, I found them to less hospitable than I
expected.
In our experience as travelers, we have found that Italians, Greeks, Spaniards, Mexicans, Turks, Egyptians Pacific islander, with the exception of
Tahiti ( ah, the French) were among the most gracious hosts.
Not scientific in any way, and I expect others to disagree.
[Edited on 12-11-2009 by Bajahowodd] |
) here.
!
