Guest Post: How To Spot A Tourist
Hi readers!
How are you today? Starting off the travel bits of the blog with guest posts from Sandra Enaholo of Jumia Travel. Her articles will cover travel, tourism and hospitality industry. Enjoy!
At different times of the year, people take a break from work to travel around the world. Yes, people are always excited to leave their present environment to go visit someplace new. People travel for different reasons; either for family vacation or for tourism purpose. As such, it is common place to find tourists in your neighborhood in this period of the year.
While some tourists stand out from the crowd, others blend in effortlessly. The ones who blend in with the locals are either second-time visitors, or must have done a lot of research on their travel destination. Hence, it is very difficult to differentiate them from the locals. On the other hand, the tourists who are first-time visitors stand out from the crowd and are easy to spot. There are several ways to spot them from the crowd. Some of them include;
1. Type of clothing: The easiest way to spot a tourist is from their clothing. Tourists are known to wear clothes that are different from that of the locals. Their dress code is often restricted to denim trousers/shorts, round neck polo, sneakers and sun glasses. They leave their hotel accommodations dressed in these type of outfits.
2. Carry big bags: Tourists go about with their personal items such as towels, change of clothes, fragrances, toiletries, just to mention a few. As such, they usually carry big bags that will contain all their belongings. Some tourists even carry portable camp beds around. Funny, huh? This can be avoided if they can take their time to search for cheap hotel accommodation in online hotel booking portals.
3. Accent: I think this should actually top the list because 7 out of every 10 tourists talk with funny accents. In their bid to sound like the locals, they end up talking in a funny way. Some of them drag a word they are supposed to pronounce very fast while some speak fast when they are meant to talk slowly.
4. Stop to ask for directions: Next time you see someone stopping at every point to ask for directions, just know that there is an eighty percent chance that that person is a tourist. Tourists often find it difficult to navigate about. Although, they already have specific places they plan to visit even before embarking on their trip, they find it hard to get there because they are not familiar with the routes. Hence, they stop by the roadside to ask for directions.
5. Break the rules: Because they are not familiar with the rules of their tourist destination, most tourists end up flouting them. And this is one of the things that give them away. It is commonplace to see a tourist smoking in a no-smoking zone or driving in the opposite direction of a unidirectional road. Also, when tourists are in groups, they speak in loud voices thereby disturbing the tranquility of the environment.
6. Take pictures of everywhere and everything: Most tourists usually walk about holding HD cameras in their hands. At the spur of the moment, they bring out these cameras to take pictures of everything in sight. Thus filling the air with the “click” sound of the cameras. If you happen to see anyone taking pictures of something as trivial as a heap of sand in beautiful hotel surroundings, just know that there is a seventy percent chance that that person is a tourist.
7. Undecided on what to eat: In restaurants, tourists find it difficult to decide on what to eat. This is due to the fact that they are usually overwhelmed by the myriad of options available to them. As such, they end up trying out everything they see on the menu list. So next time you see someone in a restaurant having a piece of everything on the menu list in his/her plate, just know that the person is a tourist.
8. Extremely courteous: In an attempt not to offend anyone, tourists end up being extremely courteous to the extent that it becomes suspicious to those around them. So, when next you encounter someone that is extremely courteous on your way, don’t become suspicious. Just know that he/she will most likely be a tourist.
Summarily, since tourists are visiting a place for the first time, they end up standing out from the crowd. And as such, it is easy to spot them out by what they do and how they comport themselves. So if you happen to be visiting a place for the first time, be sure not to act in any of the eight ways mentioned above. Otherwise, you will also be tagged a tourist.
Ever been a tourist in a different city or country before? Which of these points can you relate to? The best part of posting here is getting your feedback and comments. What are your thoughts about this post?
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