Joanna

Forgot to say ditto for HK - former crown colony of GB now returned to China, but still many expats in residence or returning for holidays.

Rel

I'm Australian and would have to think that Australians (especially considering our low population of only about 18 million) would be the greatest travellers in the world. There are many reasons for this: <BR> <BR>1. We get great holidays - minimum 4 weeks per year plus long service leave of 13 weeks after staying with the same employer for 10 years (7 years if in a government job!) <BR> <BR>2. Adventurous spirit <BR> <BR>3. Lack of culture and history in our own country. (don't can me for this Aussies). We are a young country with not a lot of culture or history. We have lots and lots of fantastic scenery and things to do in our unbelievably wonderful country, but history is not one of them - architecture etc. a bit lacking. <BR> <BR>4. Disposable income. Although our Aussie dollar is not stacking up well at the moment against the US dollar (but getting better), generally the majority of Australians, who choose to work (!!??) have a suffcient level of income which allows them to travel. <BR> <BR>You will find most Australians have been overseas. <BR> <BR>We are certainly not "rich" but we both work and have always done so and travel extensively. We love it. <BR> <BR>My 20 year old son is probably not quite typical of your averge Aussie. <BR> <BR>However he has been to: <BR>every state in Australia (except South Australia) at least once (We are from Western Australia), New Zealand, Bali (Indonesia) four times, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, cruising Asia, The United States (twice) from La to Las Vegas to New York to San Antonio to New Orleans (and yes - see earlier post - Baton Rouge!!! - what an ultra boring place) - Orlando, to S Francisco and Sacramento (ditto Baton Rouge!!) - down the coastal drive to LA and San Diego. Also been to the UK and Europe. <BR> <BR>As I said he is better travelled than your average 20 year old, but there are plenty like him. <BR> <BR>We meet lots and lots of Americans on our travels in Europe; but they are just about all on tours - generally seem to "scared" to travel individually - have a fear of the language barrier we have found. We love to meet people from the US - you guys are "up front" like the Aussies, give as good as you get and are great fun. <BR> <BR>Thanks for the opportunty to post this - I really enjoy these sorts of threads; give me great insight into the wonderful people of the US.

Sjoerd

To everyone who is still enjoying this thread, have a look at http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0855290.html where lots of interesting statistics can be found.

Joe

Sjoerd, thanks for the web site with the travel statistics. <BR> <BR>3.6 million US visitors to the UK in 1998. <BR>2.4 million US visitors to France <BR>1.8 million to Germany <BR>1.8 million to Italy <BR> <BR>23,069,000 Americans travelled overseas in 1998. <BR>23,698,000 people from overseas came to the US. <BR> <BR>California, Florida, and New York seem to be the most popular USA destinations for overseas travellers. <BR> <BR>Mexico and Canada are the most popular for Americans. The UK is a distant third. <BR> <BR>I would be curious to similar stats for other countries around the world.

Steve Mueller

I apologize in advance if anything in this post has already been stated. I have been away for awhile, and only discovered this topic today. <BR> <BR>A useful set of statistics is posted by the US Dept of Commerce. They have a tourism section in their International Trade Administration. <BR> <BR>In terms of total expenditures, it seems that US citizens spend nearly as much traveling abroad as foreign visitors spend in the US (US$ 81 billion vs. US$96 billion). Although it is difficult to translate such a comparison directly into the number of tourists moving in each direction, it suggests that overseas travel by American citizens is comparable in magnitude to the number of foreigners that visit the US. <BR> <BR>The majority of visitors to America are, not surprisingly, from Canada and Mexico. After that, the greatest number are from Japan. <BR> <BR>The US Dept of Commerce does an annual survey titled "Profile of Overseas Travelers to the US." Some interesting numbers are revealed in the 1999 study. Two-thirds of foreign travelers to the US, visit only a single state. Only 15% visit three or more US states. Also, the average household income for foreign visitors to the US is US$75,000. Those numbers would seem to dispel the romantic myth of poor, noble intellectually-driven Europeans who merely want to absorb as much scenic and cultural diversity as possible. The majority of overseas visitors to the US list shopping as their primary objective. <BR> <BR>The Dept of Commerce studies also suggest that one must be careful to draw conclusions about comparative rates of international travel on the basis of destinations such as Singapore and Hong Kong, which are characterized by high incidences of business-related travel. <BR> <BR>As far as Europeans having a greater lust for travel, I would point out the obvious fact that it is trivial for a Dutch citizen to travel to a foreign country when the nearest international border is a few kilometers away. Moreover, their family members are likely equally close, so the Dutch are not compelled to use up their vacation time fulfilling obligatory family visits. In the US, it is extremely common to have family members such as parents, siblings, adult children scattered all over the country. My workplace is always nearly deserted this time of year because so many of my colleagues are spending Christmas week out of town. <BR> <BR>Finally, regarding the percentage of citizens holding passports- If an entire country were the size of Arkansas, I would expect a large number of its citizens to be passport holders.

Karen

Joe, Here are some stats for UK travel, they are a bit lengthy but I couldnt find anything else: <BR> <BR>http://www.tia.org/ivis/UKtravel.asp <BR> <BR>Kavey <BR>I once went on an interview for a job in a London based American company who were offering 15 days paid holiday a year plus 2 hours a day longer working hours than most other companies..... This is very unusual, American companies in London usually adopt UK holidays/hours. I would love to know how long it took them to find someone willing to accept that amount of leave! <BR> <BR>At the moment I could do with a higher paying job because I'm intending to buy a house, but if I was offered a job where they would pay me the few thousand extra I need but that I had to give up a weeks paid holiday I would definitely turn it down. I value those extra days here and there - long weekends, extra time at Christmas.... the house would just have to wait <BR>It definitely is about priorities!!!

Rod Hoots

Despite a lot of baloney above, it's primarily because they're cheap.

pam

To the person who wrote, 'I'd like George Bush to be a good man,' I'd like that, too. Unfortunately I live in the state he's "governed" and I use that term loosely. <BR> <BR>The wealthiest Americans I know (primarily through my work) fall into two categories: the ones who wouldn't go overseas unless they had to for work , and then complain about everything and come home at the earliest possible moment; and those who travel and are pompous about it ("We're going to Zurich--you know, SWITZERLAND," actually said to me a couple of years ago.) When my husband, son, and I spent two weeks in Italy, these people were absolutely shocked. Probably, a) that I could afford it (saved for 14 months in advance), and b) that we'd want to do it at all. <BR> <BR>I travelled with my parents for 2 to 3 weeks each summer during my childhood. We took the archetypal car trips across the US, and I have visited most of our 50 states (I guess I should figure out which ones I've missed, but as my godfather once said about the club of those who've visited 100+ countries, 'that's not the point.'). I love to travel. I love it because it forces me to think about every thing I do--I can't drive distractedly to the (fill in the blank) as I do at home; I am forced to live in the moment and pay attention. I feel more alive when I travel. Those who don't enjoy travel, then, by that measure, either enjoy their normal routines and comfort zones, or are scared of being outside their element. Fear is a powerful motivator/discourager.

Sara

Mark said: <BR>Message: Well said Lele. When I travel abroad - I want to "forget " about America and all that's associated with it - McDonalds, Starbucks, Banana Republic, Who Wants to Be a Millionare, etc, etc. <BR> <BR>ummmmm, actually Who wants to be a Millionaire is a British game show which was sold to the USA along with 36 other countries around the world.

dismayed

What a bunch of snobs you are.