Just-released survey research results show that many Brits mistakenly name key tourist attractions, including Buckingham Palace and the Hollywood Sign, among the seven modern wonders of the world. This might be because, according to a second survey, their cognitive abilities are dimmed somewhat by their tendency to drink more when abroad.
Survey One: The online travel site icelolly.com asked 1,000 Brits to identify the ancient, modern and natural wonders of the world in a survey that produced shockingly poor results. Asked about how many wonders they think they had correctly identified,
—15 percent of Brits thought they had spotted 10 out of the 21 wonders,
—3 percent thought they had named all 21.
In reality, only 6 percent of people were able to identify all seven modern wonders, with large proportions of Brits missing Christ the Redeemer in Rio, Brazil (60 percent) and Petra in Jordan (67 percent) off the list.
—More than half (54 percent) mistakenly thought Stonehenge was one of the elite landmarks.
—32 percent of Brits thought the Empire State Building was on the list, and 40 percent thought the USA’s Statue of Liberty was included.
Seven Natural Wonders of the World
Mount Everest in Nepal.
Victoria Falls in Zambia/Zimbabwe.
Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA.
Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
Northern Lights.
Paricutin volcano in Mexico.
Harbor of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Seven Modern Wonders of the World
Christ Redeemer: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Great Wall of China: China.
Machu Picchu: Peru.
Petra: Jordan.
Pyramid at Chichén Itzá: Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.
Roman Colosseum: Rome, Italy.
Taj Mahal: Agra, India.
Seven Ancient Wonders of the World
Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Greece.
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.
Colossus of Rhodes.
Lighthouse at Alexandria, Egypt.
—In what must be a result of amazingly good marketing by U.S. destinations and travel suppliers, an astonishing 8 percent of the nation named Disney World Florida as a modern wonder of the world.
—Another 5 percent identified the elusive Area 51 as a modern wonder.
—Nearly one of eight Brits (12 percent) thought the Hollywood Sign was one of the noted destinations.
—5 percent of survey respondents thought the fictional land of Narnia was an ancient wonder of the world.
—20 percent of Brits also thought the mythical land of Atlantis makes the list.
Finally, only 4 percent of Brits were able to identify all seven natural wonders of the world, with less than a quarter recognizing the Harbor of Rio (11 percent), Aurora (17 percent) and Parícutin volcano (15 percent) as natural wonders. Another 12 percent were able to select all seven ancient wonders of the world,
Survey Two: The UL’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) recently issued safety advice for stag and hen parties heading abroad this summer. The study came in the wake of episodes of drunk and rowdy behavior at airports and aboard aircraft.
The FCO cited a survey suggesting that 43 percent of British nationals are more likely to drink abroad than on other occasions and 52 percent of survey respondents admitted to doing something they later regretted after drinking abroad.
The poll also found: 6 percent had walked back to their resort or hotel alone or taken a dangerous shortcut; 11 percent had jumped into a pool while intoxicated; and 6 percent had tried to drive whilst drunk.
“Stag and hen parties can be great fun and a time for celebration, but travelers are more likely to take risks and get into trouble abroad if they have been drinking heavily,” said Cara Fortune, from the FCO’s Travel Aware team.
Tom, If the same survey were taken of Americans, I’d say the responses would be worse, and drinking wouldn’t be the reason. Pure ignorance of our world would be.