Lanzarote says it is fed up with having so many British tourists visiting the island - and wants FEWER UK holidaymakers!

GG13- yes, there are. But the 'bad' ones, that give all of us a bad name- tend to stick to some resorts and regions.

Because it's ok to laugh at ourselves!

But yes, British people on holiday ARE seen as louts with great frequency. Drinking, indiscriminate shagging and annoying the locals.

Well as the story was plastered in all newspapers and News, it is not hard to remember. And I have a great memory- not so great as it was 6 drinks, not 8.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10766923/British-holidaymaker-says-trip-Majorca-ruined-binge-drinking-crackdown.html

I told you, I don't do posh holidays, so not one for The Ritz. We stayed at a small resort, with a navette to go to the reefs for snorkelling.

GagaJo

I was teaching Shakespeare this morning and this came up!

'Your Dane, your German, your swag bellied Hollander drink, ho! Are nothing to your English.'

Not to mention Hogarth's paintings of Gin Alley.

We're known for being drunks and always have been!

Give over Gagajo there are thousands and thousands of British tourists throughout the world, relatively few are drunken hooligans.

I am reminded of this phrase seek and ye shall find some posters take delight in doing down others.

Like I said upthread if these allegations we’re constantly repeated against Muslims, Jews or people of colour it would be racism, but hey ho open season on your fellow citizens.

Fleurpepper

Katie59

The theme is drink, if they did not offer cheap booze the louts would go somewhere else, it’s not complicated.

Remember the UK tourists a couple of years back complaining bitterly in the gutter Press about an all inclusive resort limiting alcoholic drinks at 8 per evening !?!

No but you appear to have a remarkable memory for all and sundry bad things appertaining to the U.K. and its inhabitants.

(You should have stayed at the Ritz in Sharm el Sheik beautiful hotel and food not an oik in sight)

I was teaching Shakespeare this morning and this came up!

'Your Dane, your German, your swag bellied Hollander drink, ho! Are nothing to your English.'

Not to mention Hogarth's paintings of Gin Alley.

We're known for being drunks and always have been!

Katie59

The theme is drink, if they did not offer cheap booze the louts would go somewhere else, it’s not complicated.

Remember the UK tourists a couple of years back complaining bitterly in the gutter Press about an all inclusive resort limiting alcoholic drinks at 8 per evening !?!

Callistemon21

Fleurpepper

At a resort in Sharm-el-Sheik, the pool attendant was a very educated young man from Cairo, a doctor. My friend and I, both from UK, witnessed the way people talked to him. Reminded us of Apartheid South AFrica 'oy, boy- bring us a beer and chips, chop chop'. And yes, we both apologised and talked to him a lotl Some of the stories he told us were truly shocking.

Keep digging!
I'm sure you'll find more 🙂

Oh I could- like the stag do in Crete. That was quite something!
And we did apologise for them, again and again. Other clients were NOT amused.

The theme is drink, if they did not offer cheap booze the louts would go somewhere else, it’s not complicated.

Oh dear!

Very possible for holiday companies to vet groups, for instance. No over occupancy, no groups of more than 4 under 25s, no stag dos. And up decor and fittings and price accordingly, but not over top, to dissuade such groups. It can be done.

Fleurpepper

I agree, and so have we. And it has little to do with money or being posh either.

So what is it to do with? 🤔

I'm genuinely puzzled.

Should the government be doing something about this in schools? Lessons on how to deport oneself when overseas?

My DD and I went to Lanzarote many years ago. It was quiet and peaceful. We would hire taxis and drive out to some of the outlying villages where the food was wonderful.
In one restaurant there was a passageway where many bottles of wine were stored with no one in attendance.
My DD wondered how long those bottles would have been there in some places in the UK

I agree, and so have we. And it has little to do with money or being posh either.

Fleurpepper

At a resort in Sharm-el-Sheik, the pool attendant was a very educated young man from Cairo, a doctor. My friend and I, both from UK, witnessed the way people talked to him. Reminded us of Apartheid South AFrica 'oy, boy- bring us a beer and chips, chop chop'. And yes, we both apologised and talked to him a lotl Some of the stories he told us were truly shocking.

Keep digging!
I'm sure you'll find more 🙂

I've witnessed bad behaviour by tourists of all nationalities when overseas but I'm not going to label them all the same and say that only those wealthy who can afford upmarket accommodation should be allowed to travel abroad.

Just because tourists are British does not mean they are badly behaved and just because someone is not British does not mean their behaviour is impeccable either.

As for catering for more wealthy upmarket travellers - being better off does not always mean better behaved.
Nor does pricing people out of the market mean a better class of traveller either.

Some of our cheaper holidays when the DC were young were camping overseas, we never saw bad behaviour and we met some lovely people of many nationalities, including British.

At a resort in Sharm-el-Sheik, the pool attendant was a very educated young man from Cairo, a doctor. My friend and I, both from UK, witnessed the way people talked to him. Reminded us of Apartheid South AFrica 'oy, boy- bring us a beer and chips, chop chop'. And yes, we both apologised and talked to him a lotl Some of the stories he told us were truly shocking.

LadyHonoriaDedlock

Without wishing to tar all British tourists with the same brush, because it's generally a minority that give the rest a bad name, I can see why a place like Lanzarote, with a small population and a sensitive environment, might feel overwhelmed by a certain type of tourist. Those who make no effort to learn even a little of the language, those who won't eat the local food, those who treat the locals as their servants, those who strip to the waist and swagger down the street with cans of lager in their hands singing football songs.

I'm sure British tourists who engage with the local culture and respect it will continue to be welcome in Lanzarote.

And that is it. And there is no need to be posh, or rich either.

We are forever saying 'please do not tar all Brits with the same brush- those types are a tiny minority. And staff reply 'but they are the only ones we see'. And it is very sad. And why should we not try to explain, and apologise for the hurt they cause?

We don't do posh holidays, we don't generally do 'resort' holidays. And of course, I will get some of the above even more annyoyed, but here goes. I speak 4 European languages fluently, and perhaps that means that staff tend to speak more to me about how they feel. Perhaps?

First time we went to Tenerife, we did stay in a resort, and chose it because the ad said it had an English restaurant and a typical Spanish one. When we got there, we were told they had had to close the local Spanish one as so few of the guests would eat there. We moved to a parent resort further North- and that was great.

We went on a ski trip to Bulgaria. Fantastic staff, and great food- a choice of 3 starters, 3 mains, 3 puds- and we heard it many times during the week- why do we have to eat that foreign stuff. It was Women's day when we were there- and the women at the Hotel invited everyone to a party, with food, drinks, music and dance. We were the only ones who attended, with two girls on the trip. They kept asking- why British so not nice? And we and the girls were apologising.

We went on a school ski trip to Châtel in France. The Chef at the Hotel was morrocan, and one evening he prepared his best couscous. It was amazing. The coach drivers shouted at him and said exactly what I reported above 'bring us some proper food, we ain't eating that foreing muck- bl**dy arabs'.

When we go on hols, we don't do posh and expensive. We eat local, small family places with great local produce and great recipes.

We have been on several holidays where we cringed and apologised profusely afterwards, to local staff really upset- after they were told (shouted at)- 'we are not eating this foreign muck- bring us some proper English food'. Several times, and in several countries (Bulgaria, Morroco, France, Tenerife).

Oh, give over - you just made that up!

Unless you frequent real dives.

Fleurpepper

Oh dear!

No, we certainly never shouted at staff in restaurants- but witnessed it many times, sadly. Doh!

Well, I was surprised, never thought you would.

But I can't remember seeing anyone do this and I wouldn't apologise for them.

Sadly it's the noisy ones that cause trouble that get remembered.

We stayed with friends in a small, non-touristy town in Greece some years ago and were the talk of the town. Most of the older residents had apparently never met a Brit and when we went out for a drink in the evening we had obviously become a resident-attraction. My friend told me they were waiting for us to get drunk as they knew all Brits were drunkards 🤣 They would have had a long wait as neither of us drink much alcohol and I don't think we had more than one drink each while we were there. But it gave me a shock at the time that people thought so badly of us.

MerylStreep

Fleurpepper
I think something got lost in translation.
You seem to have missed the point that you are frequenting these same eateries as the lower classes.
Why would you do that when you find them so offensive to your sensibilities.

And there I was, thinking we should all model ourselves on Fleurpepper, whether it’s on holiday, or life in general. Our very own gransnet expert on any OP we can name

Without wishing to tar all British tourists with the same brush, because it's generally a minority that give the rest a bad name, I can see why a place like Lanzarote, with a small population and a sensitive environment, might feel overwhelmed by a certain type of tourist. Those who make no effort to learn even a little of the language, those who won't eat the local food, those who treat the locals as their servants, those who strip to the waist and swagger down the street with cans of lager in their hands singing football songs.

I'm sure British tourists who engage with the local culture and respect it will continue to be welcome in Lanzarote.

Fleurpepper

Oh dear!

No, we certainly never shouted at staff in restaurants- but witnessed it many times, sadly. Doh!

I don't think I ever have

Trying to think .....

Parsley3

^But it is the 'rejection' of local foods and culture that upsets people.^

Is it only the British owned restaurants that cause offence abroad? What about the Chinese, French, German etc restaurants that serve their local menus? I have seen plenty of those in Spanish resorts.

I have seen McDonalds Burger Kings (American) and Italian restaurants in every single country in the world along with Chinese, Indian, French, German, Thai, Malaysian far more prevalent than Fish & Chip shops.

Urmstongran

Oh I think Fleurpepper was apologising to the establishments on behalf of Brits Abroad in general Calli.

What - all of us?

No need, honestly, I'll try most things!
Except for fish eyes, squid and tapioca.