The concept of travelling overseas so you can meet your own countrymen, or countrywomen, seems a bit odd – but a significant number of Australians feel that way.
According to a survey conducted by the digital travel platform Agoda, more than one in five Australians prefer to meet other Australians, rather than other nationalities, while on holiday.
Travel is generally seen as expanding the mind, and many travellers seek out foreign cultures for the age-old reasons of learning about other ways of life and meeting the people who live there.
But a significant minority would rather stick with their own.
More than one in five Australians on holiday say they would choose to meet their own citizens over other nationalities, the Agoda Favourite Nationalities to Encounter survey revealed – and they are not alone.
The same survey showed that travellers from seven out of the 11 countries surveyed most like to encounter their own citizens on holiday.
Top six countries where travellers feel that way are, in order: Japan (22%); Australia (21%); Thailand (19%); China (18%); Saudi Arabia (17%); and UK (16%).
Indonesia bucks the trend. Only 7% of travellers from there are keen to meet Indonesians when travelling, along with UAE travellers on 10%.
Americans are the most desirable nationality to meet. Travellers from eight out of the 11 countries surveyed placed Americans in the top three nationalities they would like to meet during their holiday travels.
Despite Brexit, Britain is the country most likely to favour meeting European travellers (45%). Britain is followed in that sentiment by Chinese, Australian and US travellers.
Asian travellers are more likely to want to meet other Asian travellers on vacation. Also, five out of the six Asian markets said they were more likely to want to meet Japanese when on holiday.
When broken down by region, the research findings show that travellers from the 11 countries surveyed overwhelmingly prefer to encounter people from the West while they’re on holiday. All countries placed Europe within their top three list, and North America was placed in the top three by six – the US, UK, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Japan and Australia.
Edited by Peter Needham
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