Why Americans Are the Worst Tourists: Well… Let Me Change Your mind.

The Question I Always Get Asked

I often get asked who, in my humble opinion, has the worst tourists, and 9/10 times people expect me to say Americans. Well, I honestly don’t think they are, and I would go out of my way to say that most of the time they are quite easy-going.

I have never had an American hit me, throw up on me, or bite me — yes, that is a true story, and I want to touch on that trauma another day.

Where the Stereotype Comes From

I think where this stereotype comes from is the Boomer generation. Now we have to go back to the 1980s. The average American household got to live a more leisurely life. War, for the most part, was over, the economy was up, and technology was on the rise. When a nation goes through such a quick rise, you find a lot of people whose parents or grandparents never travelled or went abroad before. Now you have a completely new generation exploring all corners of the world.

And this is where I personally believe this stereotype begins. You suddenly have a new generation landing all over the world who are so used to their own ways that they don’t realise they are pissing off the locals. Things that would be normal back home aren’t acceptable. And when you have mass migrations at once, it may seem like it’s just one massive group — the Americans.

It’s Not Just an American Thing

But we can see this with all cultures. For example, China: only recently have people had the ability to go on vacation, but I’m sure you’ve seen the YouTube videos about bad Chinese tourists pooping in the street. Now India is becoming the main focus, as young Indians who have never travelled before are now visiting in mass droves.

Size Matters (A Lot)

Let’s first look at America. It’s massive — roughly the size of the UK and then some. For most Europeans, you can drive for six hours and you’ve been through three countries, the language has changed five times, and so has the accent. While in the States, you drive six hours and you’re probably still in your home state.

America is also such a new country that it hasn’t really had much time to develop traditions or deep history, and even the infrastructure is quite modern and built for modern times — especially cars. One of the first things an American will say on one of my tours is how amazing it is to walk everywhere. You have to drive in the States, as there aren’t always paths or sidewalks. So the concept of being introduced to a country with a culture six times older than your nation can be quite intimidating.

The Banter Problem

Another cultural difference is banter. Australia has banter. New Zealand has it. And the UK created it. However, other English-speaking nations haven’t quite grasped it. Canada… getting there. South Africa, definitely not. And America — no, not at all.

Banter in the UK and most Commonwealth countries comes from times of hardship and laughing about your situation. A great example is when my hometown of St Albans was bombed by the IRA in the 90s. The explosion went off, and I remember my dad telling me this story. When he came out of the house, his neighbour Paul looked at him and said, “I knew I shouldn’t have had that curry last night.”

It’s that “keep calm and carry on” attitude that got us through the war, because God knows it wasn’t the food. And when most Americans go abroad, they take everything a bit too literally.

I think the best example of this comes from down under. If you call someone a good c*nt, that’s a compliment, That means you’re in.

But if you say, “Hey champ,” that’s one of the worst things you can do. You might as well kick their cat as you walk into their home.

Different Attitudes to Work

Another big difference is that they don’t downplay their achievements — rightly so. They work their asses off with no vacation days. Over here in the UK, if I talk about work, I always lean into the bad side of it. It’s not because I hate it; I just don’t want to show off.

Why I Actually Love American Tourists

Now the good stuff. I genuinely think Americans are one of my favourite groups to have on my tours. Most of the time, they really appreciate getting out of the States. Only 41% have passports and bother seeing another culture. These ones have broken out of their bubble. They are also aware that most countries hate them by default, and they want to change this.

World politics at the moment has made it harder for them to escape this reputation. They want to learn and see new things. They want to understand banter and once they get it, they’re now part of the gang.

The Tipping Point

Even when I’ve had bad American travellers, the worst they’ll usually do is leave a bad review and move on. Again, this is rare — but after all that, they’ll still tip. If you work in travel, you know how frustrating it can be when people don’t, because tips make up 30–50% of our wages.

Final Thoughts

Now, after this blog, the one thing I want you to take away is this: they are not all bad. Please, let’s get rid of these old stereotypes and focus all our hate on Tottenham.

Duran.