More than one in five Japanese and Australians would choose to meet their own citizens over other nationalities while on vacation. But they are not alone, the Agoda Favorite Nationalities to Encounter survey, reveals that travelers from seven out of the 11 countries surveyed would most like to encounter their own countrymen on holiday.
Top six countries where travelers would prefer to meet their own nationality when traveling – Japan (22%), Australia (21%), Thailand (19%), China (18%), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (17%), and UK (16%). Bucking this trend are travelers from Indonesia with only 7% of travelers keen to meet Indonesians when traveling, along with UAE travelers on 10%.
American travelers are the single most popular nationality to meet, with Agoda’s survey revealing Americans ranking in the top three countries for eight out of the 11 surveyed.
This appeal for meeting Americans travelers stretches across the continents, as it is seen on the list for travelers in Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, USA, UK, and Vietnam.
Despite Brexit, the Brits are the top country to favor meeting European travelers (45%), followed by Chinese, Australian and US travelers. Asian travelers are more likely to want to meet other Asian travelers on vacation, with five out of the six Asian markets more likely to want to meet Japanese when on holiday.
Survey results also show that K-Culture has a special place in the hearts of travelers from Indonesia and Malaysia — with South Koreans ranking second and third place respectively, in their top three list of nationalities they would most like to come across.
When broken down by region, research findings showed that travelers from the 11 countries overwhelmingly prefer to encounter people from the West while they’re on holiday, with all countries placing Europe within their top three list, and North America being placed in six — USA, UK, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Japan and Australia.
Respondents from Asia also have a keen preference to look out for other Asians while abroad, as compared to those from USA, UK, Saudi Arabia and Australia. Meanwhile, those from China, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia rank Southeast Asians as third among those they’d like to see while traveling.