SPANIARDS and Italians Voted The Best Hosts Berlin, Germany 31/07/2014: English people are the second most popular travel companions in Europe, and the Spanish carry a good reputation as hosts and guests, a new pan-European poll from journey planning platform, GoEuro (www.goeuro.co.uk), can reveal.

The large-scale poll, conducted in July 2014, surveyed people from England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, France, and Spain on their opinions and notions about other nationalities that they encounter in a travelling context.

In response to the question, “Who do you like to meet while travelling?” – with the option for selecting multiple nationalities – the poll found that Germans were the most popular to meet whilst travelling, with 37% of the vote, closely followed by English (35%), French (33%), andSpanish (33%). Least popular were the Austrians (24%), Belgians (23%), and Portuguese (19%). When the results are subdivided according to the age of the respondents, the English are the most popular nationality to meet whilst travelling according to 57% of European respondents aged 18-24.

The poll also posed the questions “Who are the best hosts?” and “Who are the best guests?” Respondents were allowed to pick one country only, the majority selecting the Spanish and Italians as preferred hosts, while the Germans were voted the favourite nationality to have as a guest. Portuguese people seem to be unpopular when it comes to hosting or staying with others abroad.

Among 18 to 24 year olds the English were number one. Robin Wilfert, Creative Director of GoEuro, comments on the poll results; “English people in general are respectful and well educated; add to that the fact that English is now the international travel language, and you have a great mix for friendliness.”

Though it was a trend for smaller countries to receive fewer votes, in part a consequence of their population sizes meaning correspondingly limited opportunities for significant interaction on the part of their fellow Europeans, the Scottish results were emphatic when subdivided according to age of respondents: not a single respondent aged 25-34 (including Scots themselves) voted for the Scots as ‘best hosts’; no respondents in either the 18-24 or 55-64 age categories (including Scots themselves) selected Scots as ‘best guests’.

Simon Wisdom, Country Manager UK at GoEuro, comments on the poll results: “The survey results give us interesting insights into attitudes towards different nationalities in a holiday or travelling context, with participants basing their results on both direct experience and national historical reputation.”

You can see the full results with graphs here: www.goeuro.co.uk/polls Also see the attached graphic for a visual representation of the data.

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