Survey reveals what Britons think about themselves abroad

We all know the stereotypes about Britons abroad, but do they still ring true?
A new poll from ABTA highlights just what we think about ourselves on holiday.
Local language
The usual stereotypes are upheld with two thirds of Britons (65%) unwilling to learn the local language and believing that the British holidaymaker speaks English to locals.

Over half (55%) also consider the British holidaymaker to be guilty of rowdy drunken behaviour and 38% consider Brits to be badly dressed when on holiday. There is some good news however, a third (32%) of Britons think of themselves as polite and 42% of us think of ourselves as friendly abroad.

In general, people in the North East have the most positive view of the British holidaymaker with almost two thirds (63%) pointing to our friendly behaviour and one in five (20%) stating we're willing to learn the local language.

Some regions however, consider us to be particularly badly behaved. The Consumer research was conducted by Arkenford Ltd who specialise in tourism and leisure market research.

The ABTA Consumer Trends survey generated response from a nationally representative sample of 2008 consumers using an online research methodology and related to holiday booking habits in the 12 months to September 2012. Fieldwork was conducted in September 2012.

Send us an email and let us know what you think.