In een andere post kwam ik de bovenstaande opmerking tegen over de drukte in een van de campings in een nationaal park:rhaf schreef:
Ik maakte nog de opmerking dat ik dat opmerkelijk vond zo midden in een crisis, waarop de betreffend man aangaf dat het zelfs drukker was dan vorig jaar. Reden schijnt gedeeltelijk te zijn dat veel meer Amerikanen in eigen land blijven dit jaar en er toch weer meer buitenlanders op bezoek komen.
Ik wilde niet in originele onderwerp zo off-tpoic gaan, dus heb ik mijn opmerkingen maar hier geplaaatst.
Alsof ze in voorgaande jaren met overweldigende cijfers in het buitenland zaten? Amerikanen komen bijna niet in het buitenland, dat vinden ze eng (zie stukje hieronder). Volgens IATA reizen er gemiddeld 11 miljoen amerikanen buiten de grenzen per jaar, en voor 2009 is dat slechts 6.9% minder dan in voorgaande jaren. Die 11 miljoen is inclusief Mexico en Canada; op een bevolking van 300 miljoen is dat net 3%. Het paspoort bezit in de US is in de afgelopen jaar toegenomen van 15% naar 25% omdat je tegenwoordig voor Mexico en Canada ook een paspoort nodig hebt. Het merendeel van de reizen naar deze landen zijn zakenreizen
Dit stukje vond ik op de internet over amerikanen en reizen naar het buitenland. Ik vind het de spijker op de kop slaan:
American's don't travel:
First, there is size. Forget about post 9/11 politics for a moment. Most family vacations in America are to other parts of America. Why? Because the U.S.A. takes up a whole continent and we have all the world’s environments in our states. Need beaches? Head to Florida. The tropics? Hawaii. Desert? Arizona. The cold Tundra? Alaska. Temperate forests? Washington. This attitude is best summed up by a response I got from a friend in Iowa: “Why would you want to go to Thailand? It’s far and scary. If you want beaches, just go to Florida.” Americans simply don’t see the need to go anywhere else when they can do it all in their country, especially when they are afraid of the world.
Which brings me to my second point- fear. Americans are just scared of the world. I mean really scared. Maybe even petrified. In this post 9/11 world (even before it), Americans have been taught the world is a big scary place. There are terrorists outside every hotel waiting to kidnap you. People don’t like you because you are American. The world is violent. It’s poor. It’s dirty. It’s savage. Only Canada and Europe are O.K. but, if you go there, they will still be rude to you because you are American. No one likes us. The sky is falling!
Even before 9/11, the media created an environment of fear. If it bleeds, it leads right? Even prior to 9/11, the media played up violence at home and abroad. Pictures of riots in the foreign streets, threats against Americans, and general violence were all played up to portray a violent and unsafe world. Politicians now tell us “they hate you” as former NYC mayor, Rudy Guiliani, did during his campaign. It’s US vs. THEM!!!
Bombarded by this for decades, Americans think this myth is reality and don’t want to leave the states. People always ask me why I want to leave the US to travel. Isn’t the U.S. just as good? No one likes us out there people say.
To Americans, the world is a scary place and it’s a perception only reinforced by the media and politicians.
Finally, it is because of cultural ignorance. Yes, I said it- it’s because Americans are ignorant. I mean ignorant as they simply just don’t know what is going on outside their borders. I mean I don’t blame them. When you are told the world is scary, why would you want to care about it? Why would you want to go to places where they want to kill you? So Americans don’t put an emphasis on learning about the world. We don’t take languages, avoid overseas programs, and don’t talk about our world in schools. Our schools teach one foreign language: Spanish, and that is only because we have a large Spanish speaking population in the country not because we want to go to Spain. The media doesn’t focus on the world except if it relates to something bad and our politicians encourage us to erect walls not break down barriers.
Some people argue that it’s because America is “far” from the rest of the world as if there is an insurmountable distance to go to get places. However, New Zealand is further geographically yet they are encouraged to go out and explore the world. It’s further for them to get anywhere in the world than it is for Americans. In the age of the internet, Twitter, You Tube, and airplanes, it is easy to go places. Distance is no excuse.
No, Americans don’t travel because of culture not location. Sure, it’s not universal. There are plenty of Americans out there exploring the world and breaking down cultural barriers. They come back and break down myths and encourage the world to get involved. But even in the more liberal places in America, you see this attitude that America is the world’s only safe country, that most of the world is pretty scary. In reality, Americans have an image of the world that is totally divorced from reality.
Wat vinden jullie van het vakantie/reisgedrag van de "gemiddelde amerikaan"?
).
