Americans in Greece

Nice article. Thanks for sharing.

“Americans are heaven for us,” says Alekos Kastrinos, one of the
co-owners, listing attributes that include friendliness, openness and
a propensity to tip generously.

We are a nice lot, aren't we? 🙂

It's pleasant to see something good written about Americans.

This story really touches my heart, of all the Rick Steve’s tours we’ve taken, the Greece tour was the best! My wife especially fell in love with the Greek people and their culture. We plan to go back sometime in the near future and it sounds like it could be sooner than we hoped.

Yes, it is nice to be appreciated and not just for our free spending habits. I know when we travel, either alone or with family, we are very pleasant and nice. Why not, we are on vacation. We are not complainers, more go with the flow Type of people. Hope to get back to Greece soon.

We were told multiple times on our trip in early June by tour guides how much they enjoyed working with Americans. On our sailboat trip from Naxos, the captain said he especially enjoys hosting Americans as they are, “relaxed, fun, and plan early” which helps him in planning his schedule. In one of the shops when he asked when were from and said US, he threw up his hands and exclaimed, “finally you are here!”

So yes, I hope the days of the Ugly American Tourist is becoming a thing of the past.

Very nice news story, and thanks for sharing! My family and I are looking forward to traveling to Greece next week. Judging by past trips, I really think the Ugly American Tourist is a thing of the past, and other nationalities are now the "Ugly Tourists." Last time I was in Greece, one of my cousins there mentioned German tourists coming in camper vans and bringing everything with them -- food, even extra gasoline, he said (though I don't see how that's possible!) -- so that they can spend as little money as possible in Greece. He knows many people in the tourism industry so even if he is exaggerating a little, I think there must be something to this story. Needless to say, for the local economy, having people take up space in parking lots, on beaches, etc., while spending very little money (even if they can afford to), is not helpful. I have also read that Americans spend more on average than other tourists in Greece, which is consistent with the article.

Allison (grateful to be going to Greece!)

Ha, My son and his 3 friends are in Greece now…

An American in Greece: Travel to Europe is no easy feat this summer

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/greece-travel-from-the-united-states/index.html

Most disliked tourists by country revealed in new research

https://www.traveller.com.au/most-disliked-tourists-by-country-revealed-in-new-research-h1i4qq

It's easy to generalize and say ALL tourists from a certain country are disliked.

I've been to Greece numerous times and I've never had any bad experiences with locals because I'm an American.

It may help that I'm a Greek-American whose both sets of grandparents immigrated from Greece in the early 1900s and I've learned a bit of Greek. Certainly not fluent but some basic words and phrases which really makes a difference when dealing with locals.

When they find out I'm an American they say "My Uncle Lives in Boston!" My Cousin Lives in New York!" "I've Been to California!"

In addition many Greeks have immigrated to the US over the years and there is strong ties between the two countries.

Respect for the country and people you are visiting is important regardless of your nationality.

I doubt people in one's home country would want Greeks to misbehave there so please respect the country and people you are visiting.

You'll find most Greeks welcoming, polite and many go out of their way to help you!

Regarding American travellers to Greece:

Anyone traveling to Greece or other countries during the pandemic needs to do their research before departing.

In addition if you have a connecting flight in another country to/from Greece you need to check on that countries entry rules for the pandemic.

The US and Greek Embassy websites have clear instructions for travel and entering the country.

Do you research!

US Embassy & Consulate in Greece:
https://gr.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/

Entry into Greece:
https://travel.gov.gr/#/

I agree that, no matter what country you are in, if you show the locals kindness and respect, they usually show kindness and respect in return; maybe not 100%, but usually. Ugliness begets ugliness.

The only times I'm aware of that I experienced rudeness towards Americans was a tour guide in the Louvre in 1985 and the tour director of our Globus tour in 1990. Maybe I'm just oblivious, but I don't think rudeness towards Americans is very common.

Actually, many Spanish also like Americans. I've talked to some of the hotel owners there and they usually say that we are better behaved then the Brits who usually come for stag/hen parties.

A guide in a Slovenian town not frequented by many Americans told me that the reputation of American tourists is that they are stupid. 🙂