Global Travelers Prefer Meeting Compatriots on Holiday
With the summer holiday season in full swing and people keen to ‘get away from it all’, Agoda, one of the world’s fastest-growing digital travel platforms, reveals that a majority of countries surveyed by global travelers would most likely want to meet their fellow countrymen or women while on holiday.
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.
The top six countries where travelers would prefer to meet their own nationality when traveling — Japan (22%), Australia (21%), Thailand (19%), China (18%), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (17%), and UK (16%).
Bucking this trend are global travelers from Indonesia, with only 7% of travelers keen to meet Indonesians when traveling, along with UAE travelers at 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 American travelers stretches across the continents, as seen on the list for travelers in Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the USA, the UK, and Vietnam.
Despite Brexit, the UK is 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.
Holiday Data at a Glance Global travelers
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- 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 the 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.
UK |
US |
Saudi Arabia |
UAE |
China |
Thailand |
Malaysia |
Vietnam |
Japan |
Indonesia |
Australia |
Top 3 Favorite Nationalities to Encounter |
||||||||||
UK |
USA |
Saudi Arabia |
India |
China |
Japan |
Malaysia |
USA |
Japan |
Japan |
Australia |
USA |
UK |
USA |
UAE |
France |
Thailand |
Japan |
Japan |
USA |
South Korea |
UK |
Australia |
Australia |
UAE |
Philippines |
USA |
UK |
South Korea |
Vietnam |
Italy |
UK / USA |
USA |
UK |
US |
Saudi Arabia |
UAE |
China |
Thailand |
Malaysia |
Vietnam |
Japan |
Indonesia |
Australia |
Top 3 Favorite Nationalities to Encounter by region |
||||||||||
Europe |
Europe |
Middle East |
Middle East |
Europe |
Asia |
Asia |
Asia |
Asia |
Asia |
Europe |
North America |
North America |
Europe |
Europe |
Asia |
Europe |
Europe |
North America |
Europe |
Europe |
Oceania / Polynesia / Mediterranean |
Oceania / Polynesia / Mediterranean |
Asia |
North America |
Asia |
Southeast Asia |
Southeast Asia |
Southeast Asia |
Europe |
North America |
Southeast Asia |
North America |