A while back, I wrote a piece about 20 ways you can spot an American tourist from a mile away. It went into several ways that people from the U.S. are, for lack of a better phrase, “Very American.” How we act, speak, look, etc. It was admittedly part truth, part stereotype.
Speaking of stereotypes, they’re out there for just about every nationality out there. And we all know we exist. In fact, these are the stereotypes of various countries, as explained by their residents.
Of course, accents set aside, people from Great Britain have their own ways of being noticed in a crowd. Living in Orlando, we can almost always pick out the Brits during the summer season…they’re usually the ones who are lobster red from sunburn. 😉
But besides that, there’s lots – LOTS – of stuff that’s uniquely British, at least in their minds.
TUI Group, a German leisure, travel and tourism company, has a strong presence in Great Britain. And they recently commissioned Perspectus Global to survey 2,000 British holidaymakers (“holidaymakers” = “people going on vacation” in American English) to determine what they felt were things a “true Brit” would do whilst en route to their holiday (a.k.a. “what they’d do when they’re on their way to their vacation”). Here are the top 15:
- You arrive at the airport hours before your flight ‘to be on the safe side’ – 64%
- You believe a full English (breakfast), including a beer, is acceptable at 4am – 49%
- You say ‘oooh feel that heat’ as soon as you step off the plane – 39%
- You ensure everyone has been to the loo before boarding – 36%
- You head straight to the pub as soon as you get through security – 32%
- You repeatedly check the boarding gate – 32%
- You panic while going through security for no reason whatsoever – 31%
- You have allocated someone to hold the passports, and itineraries – 29%
- You apologize to the passenger next to you for needing the loo – 28%
- You have packed your own teabags and Marmite – 26%
- Despite arriving early, you still invariably end up running to your gate – 26%
- You queue patiently at the gate even though there is an hour until the flight – 26%
- You stand up and wait to get off the plane as soon as it lands – 24%
- You battle to find the best spot to pick up your luggage from the luggage belt – 20%
- You arrive at security with all your liquids loose in your hand luggage – 18%
Of course, some of these are not quintessentially “British.” Lots of people arrive at the airport hours early and make sure their party uses the restrooms before they board the plane. Especially in families with small children, there’s usually one person holding all the tickets, passports, etc. And Americans are just as guilty of standing up as soon as the plane lands as the fasten seatbelt sign goes off.
Some other little tidbits the researchers discovered:
- 81% of the respondents agreed there are certain airport and airplane traits that are quintessentially British.
- Nearly one in two (48%) thought it’s easy to spot a Brit in a foreign airport.
- More than a third (35%) of those surveyed said the most stressful part of a holiday is airport security and actually getting to the airport.
- Over half (54%) admit they’ve had to throw away liquids, with an average value of £5.00 (about $6.25).
- 34% said that packing causes them the most stress, while over three in four respondents (75%) admit they always overpack.
- When the 100ml rule is removed (I’m so jealous) almost half (46%) are most looking forward to walking through security with a full bottle of drinking water. Another third (31%) can hardly wait to bring perfume in carry-on bags.
A spokesperson for Tui commented:”‘We know there’s nothing more exciting than getting ready for your holiday, getting to the airport, boarding the plane and arriving at your destination and we can’t wait to take millions of people away this summer.
‘Traveling rituals certainly make travel more memorable for Brits, like having the early morning big breakfast and tipple. However, we still recommend that customers don’t arrive for their flights too early.”
H/T Metro
Feature Image: Pom’ / flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
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