And They Are … Perhaps one of the reasons that U.S. travel marketers make such an effort to sell and promote their products and destinations to visitors from the UK—and making it the USA’s Number One overseas source market in doing so—is that the British are the world’s friendliest guests. According to a just-released survey of more than 1,000 hotel staff in key destinations by the UK-based online travel agency On the Beach, just over a third (35 percent) of hotel staff said Brits were the friendliest of all international guests.

Irish and Swedish visitors took second and third place with votes of 27 percent and 10 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, travelers from France and the United States were named the least friendly guests, according to hotel staff who responded to the survey.

 Which Visitors are the Most and Least Generous? The study revealed that just over a quarter of international hotel staff named Brits as the most likely to tip staff during their stay, while holidaymakers from Germany and the U.S, tied for second place with 19 percent of the survey votes cast. They were followed by the Irish at 13 percent and Norwegians at 8 percent. Hotel staff named holidaymakers from France the least generous, along with guests from Denmark, Finland and Italy.

Who Tries the Most to Speak the Local Language? According to 23 percent of hotel staff, holidaymakers from Germany make the most effort, while 22 percent of hotel staff said the Brits do.

Who are the Unruliest? While British holidaymakers are considered the friendliest and most generous, according to hotel staff, the survey found that British kids are the unruliest, with only 4 percent of staff naming them the best behaved. Children from Germany were named the most well-behaved, with 37 percent of the vote, and youngsters from Sweden (26 percent) and Norway (9 percent) are better behaved than their British counterparts, grabbing second and third places, respectively.

Who are the Biggest Boozers? Brits were also named the biggest holiday drinkers, garnering 64 percent of the vote, well ahead of the Irish who came in second place with 17 percent. Only 6 percent of hotel staff named Germans the biggest drinkers, with Russians (5 percent) and holidaymakers from Scandinavia (1 percent) also appearing to have greater control on holiday when it comes to alcohol.

Who are the Greediest? British travelers were also named the greediest guests, with 22 percent of staff saying British holidaymakers eat more during their stay than any other nation, just ahead of Spanish guests who came in with 18 percent of the votes.

Who are the Noisiest? With a vote of 44 percent, the British were also named the noisiest guests, ahead of the Spanish (33 percent).

Who are the Messiest? Once again, Brits were named the messiest travelers, least likely to maintain a tidy hotel room. German holidaymakers were considered the cleanest guests, with a vote of 42 percent, followed by those from Sweden (18 percent) and Norway (8 percent).

Summing up the results of the survey, Alan Harding, marketing director at On the Beach, said:

“Whilst we Brits enjoy letting our hair down during our well-earned holidays, we are incredibly popular guests amongst international hotel staff. We’re a fun-loving, friendly and generous bunch, and it’s heartening to see that Britons make such a positive impression on our travels abroad.”

According to Phocuswright‘s newly published travel research report, Experiences 2019: U.S. Market Opportunity and Consumer Behavior, travel activities account for 8 percent of U.S. travel gross bookings and the segment comes in third by size behind hotels and flights. The U.S. travel activities market totaled $34 billion in 2018, and growth is outpacing the total travel market.

“Flights and accommodation can be a notable part of the travel experience if a traveler is in a front-of-plane seat or staying in a unique accommodation, but mostly these products serve as logistics,” says the report, which was researched and prepared by Alice Jong and Cathy Walsh. “It’s the things travelers do when they get there that inspire them to go places. Seven in 10 travelers consider activity options as an important factor when deciding on their destination, and more than one third start researching activities before they book any other trip elements.”

Phocuswright tells us that the tour and travel industry has had to adapt business to realign to traveler behaviors, including what consumers hope to experience and how they behave throughout the activity decision-making process. Activity providers have gotten serious about digitizing business, making their inventory discoverable and bookable online – where most travelers prefer to research and purchase travel. The adoption of third-party reservation technology systems has contributed greatly to progress, providing a more efficient solution to manage business.

A key point in a summary of the report states that, “even though reservation technology adoption has been on the upswing, connectivity into online resellers, that is, connectivity into the platforms that aggregate activities for consumers to search and buy, is still largely manual. Moreover, many smaller business owners feel their enterprises are not of sufficient size to require technology to assist in their distribution. However, online activity resellers and reservation technology companies have spearheaded industry efforts to educate providers and champion the importance of digitization. More activity providers are getting the message and becoming connected and savvy. More ways than ever before enable travelers to discover and book things to do and fulfill their experiential aspirations.”

For information on how to purchase a copy of the report, click here.