Japanese Tourists - The Best In The World?
By billywest • Jul 8th, 2008 • Category: Featured Story, The Latest
Who are the worst tourists in the world in your experience? People often complain about American tourists as being loud and obnoxious while demanding everyone speak English, even in their own countries. I used to think, Hey, that’s probably true. I mean, being American and spending most of my life in America, I was pretty familiar with just how much of an obnoxious lot we are. But, after living in Japan for awhile, I saw that people from various countries all over the world could act like total idiots just as well as we Americans can. In fact, some might do it better.
An article at Time.com states that according to a recent international survey, the French rank as the worst of the European tourist lot and third worst worldwide, trailing only behind the Indians and the Chinese (1st place in the world’s worst tourist category).
Well, according to my experience living here in Japan, I can’t really say there’s one group of foreigners that stands out in my mind as the worst, but those polled in the above-mentioned survey worked in hotels in various countries throughout the world. Working in the service industry, you get a different take and become a little more sensitive to the differences, I guess.
I will say that when I worked in various jobs in the service industry in Southern California, it seemed that Japanese tourists were far and away the best of the bunch. They tipped well (despite coming from a society where tipping doesn’t happen), they were always friendly and spoke English to the best of their abilities, and were patient with servers and clerks who acted annoyed by having to listen to their imperfect English (It’s likely that most of them had never set foot outside the U.S.). If you live in Japan long enough, you’ll hear from some of your fellow foreigners just how unfriendly Japan is to outsiders. Personally, I don’t feel that way, but I also don’t feel like I can criticize others for having the feelings they have.
Mainly, I’d like to say that no matter how I’m treated in Japan as a foreign resident, I will always believe that the Japanese are the best tourists in the world. Having taught English for awhile here in Japan, I have always been impressed by how many people here feel it’s important to make the effort to learn English and try to use it when abroad. Sure, a lot of Japanese tourists stick to packaged tours and try to stay within their comfort zones. But, a lot more of them are quite worldly and show nothing but class when trotting the globe, in my opinion.
And, it appears I’m not alone in thinking this; According to the above-mentioned survey, the Japanese were ranked no. 1 as the world’s best tourists. Are you surprised?
Loading …
billywest is a resident of South Tokyo and lives on the Toyoko line.
Email this author | All posts by billywest | billywest 's website
I think the Japanese are the world’s best tourists since they’re usually well-mannered. We don’t have a lot of American tourists here in Sweden so I can’t say anything about them from my own experience, however, I do believe that they’re pretty bad tourists (not all of them of course). I’m in the service industry myself and meet people from all over the world everyday, most of them are good tourists, the only bad ones I’ve met were either Arabs, Danish or Norwegians (they’ve tried to fool me and sometimes they just don’t cooperate). Asians, British and Spanish people are probably my “favorites” among tourists, they’re very friendly and listen to what you have to say.
[Reply]
I’m surprised that the Chinese were considered bad tourists. Maybe it’s because they do not yet have a lot of tourist experience.
[Reply]
Japanese Tourists: The Best?…
Was reading about a survey that ranked the world’s best and worst tourists. Who got the best ranking? Who got the worst? Do you agree with the results of the survey?…
I think I’ve been in Japan too long, but Chinese tourists seem kind of pushy.
I think part of the Japanese “niceness” is that they seem to study up on countries, sometimes in excess, before traveling. But at least they get prepared for what they might encounter. I tend to wing it when I go.
[Reply]
American tourists are pretty crazy at times, but I think its the individuals perspective on a foreign culture/land.
[Reply]
I think the British tourists in Spain and Ibiza are pretty bad at times, as far as speaking the language and respecting the local customs is concerend. But then again, they spend shit-loads of money on booze and food, so no-one’s complaining!
[Reply]
I’d say it’s only fair to lump Americans, Canadians, Brits and Aussies into one “Westerner” group when it comes to tourists. Too many times I’ve had to listen to someone starting a sentence with “This one American tourist …” when it turns out they’re from another country. Admittedly some Americans are total slobs when they travel, but I won’t indict the entire country because I come from there and try my best to be respectful and kind when I visit another place. As for China being No. 1, I’m not surprised after what I witnessed at Detroit Metro Airport in February: Some Chinese tourists at baggage claim were simply picking up every bag, and if it wasn’t theirs they threw it haphazardly back onto the cart. One bag was marked “FRAGILE” and when a Chinese man threw it down, you could hear glass breaking. There were about 100 Americans standing around with their mouths wide open as it happened, unable to comprehend what has taking place.
[Reply]
I’m very interested in visiting China in the near future. I’ve heard they can be pretty pushy in the big cities so I’ll have to mentally prepare myself for that since I don’t take to being pushed around too lightly. But, if it’s ingrained in society to do that, I’ll try to be a good guest and be understanding.
[Reply]
I don’t have much experience of Japanese tourist in my country, but when I am vacationing in Japan, I really appreciate the orderly way they conduct themselves. Orderly queues, patiently waiting for their turn to take photos at a scenic site, not being loud,being on-time (important with packaged tour), etc
I am Asian and I don’t like Chinese tourists - I feel they are too noisy! And they think nothing of pushing someone if they are in a hurry. Ugh!
Arabs - well, they can be rude and the children quite rowdy.
And western tourists? The problem is some of the western tourist think we Asians don’t know anything and cannot understand English. There’s always one white guy who speaks loudly and slowly to the cashier here, like she is hard of hearing. Hello - we learn English since Kindergarten! I was asked by a “nice” lady once whether I know what cheese is.
But that’s just my opinion, of course.
[Reply]
I guess I’m kind of biased in favour of the Japanese tourists being the best. I’ve traveled to my hometown with my Japanese friends and colleagues a few times over the years, and my family used to host Japanese young people and businessmen. All of our guests met us half-way - bringing cultural (often culinary) treasures to us, and speaking English as best they could.
[Reply]
Being from Hawaii and seeing how people from most every country behave…
I’d say the Japanese are among the worst. They tend to hesitate too much and miss out or have a less satisfying experience because of their basic tatemae character. They will of course blame that on everything and anyone but themselves. People in the Travel Industry are not mind readers and they are to busy to babysit adults.
Unless of course it is a V.I.P adult
[Reply]
I used to work for a hotel’s cafe for years once, and I loved when I looked at the reservation list and saw Japanese names on there (small groups or even large groups of 100 people or so). They were always the easiest to deal with and were quick to eat and never left much of a mess. But even more so, they usually left small gifts to the waiters and waitresses which really makes your day when everyone usually treats you poorly.
I have always had wonderful conversations with some Japanese tourists as well, despite language barriers.
A had a friend that worked nearby in a small convenience shop and 2 Japanese girls came in and asked her for directions. We told them and drew them a small map and sent them on their merry way. About 2 hours later, they came back! and they gave my friend a small gift box containing some trinkets from Japan!! I couldn’t believe that they would go so much out of their way…
When I first went to Japan, I followed suit, and hopefully made someone else’s day
[Reply]
I would concur with this. I find Japanese tourists are generally some of the most polite and kind people, and they also usually spend a lot of money which is also good for the place that has the tourists :).
As for Chinese tourists…Maybe it is a clash of cultures in the east and west, but I find them to be extremely pushy and rude. When traveling myself I have had many pictures ruined from Chinese tourists walking in front of me, or pushing me out of the way when i am taking pictures etc. I can’t think of a single polite Chinese tourist i have ever met.
[Reply]
i would like to say as an addition to my comment above, that although i cant remember ever meeting a kind Chinese tourist, i know plenty of Chinese people that are very kind and polite, they just never seem to be on a tour
[Reply]