USA Most Unfriendly Nation
According to this article, a study performed for Discover America Partnership reveals that the US is the most unfriendly nation when it comes to treating tourists.
Impolite and boorishThe USA are, according to an international poll, the most impolite country of the world when it comes to tourists.
Given impolite immigration officers and complex immigration rules, the US was voted “worst” tourist destination by more than twice as many travelers as the next country, according to a study that was published Monday.
Middle East and Asia follow
The runner-ups are countries in the Middle East and Asia. And even within the USA, friendlyness seems lacking.
Fear from Officers Bigger than Fear from Terrorists
“The immigration procedures created a climate of fear and frustration that keeps away tourists,” says Geoff Freeman, president of Discover America Partnership, who ordered the study.
The investigation shows that fear from US immigration officers is bigger than that from terrorism or violence.
Boorish Behavior
More than half of all US travellers called immigration officers boorish. Two thirds said they were afraid of being arrested for minor mistakes in their immigration documents or after saying a wrong word to an official.
The polling firm RT Strategies asked 2,011 travellers from 16 countries.
The article then goes on to say that the French are “not nice enough to their foreign guests” either. Some more details about what the French are doing “wrong” follow (basically they are coming across as arrogant). None of it involves fear, though, let alone fear of being thrown into prison for minor mistakes.
Being a fairly frequent US traveller (several times per year), I can certainly understand people’s feelings. I have seen no other country ever treat its visitors that rudely on such a consistent basis — and over years. Yes, occasionally one does get a the friendly immigration officer. It has happened to me a couple of times. Some even have a sense of humor, God forbid. More often than not, however, it’s a fairly unpleasent experience dealing with US immigration (even if you’re not from a “terrorist nation”). The feeling one gets is along the lines of: “You are one lucky bastard that we (I) decided to let you into our (my) country today. You better not get used to it.”
Doesn’t make for the best advertisement. It means that those tourists with money and choices (usually exactly who you’d want to visit your country, because they spend lots) will be the first to stay away.
