Most Israelis have different behaviors on their vacations in Israel and abroad. Sometimes, they act in a less than flattering way that has already been nicknamed "the ugly Israeli."
Based on a survey carried out at the end of January 2023 by WALLA! Travel and the survey institute Geocartography for the upcoming international tourism exhibition IMTM 2023, researchers found interesting results regarding personal behavior on vacation.
The sample question that was posed: How much does or doesn't it bother you to encounter an Israeli on vacation abroad? It was found that most of the respondents (80%) do not mind it.
Though most did not mind, others felt differently.
5% - very disturbing
15% - somewhat disturbing
40% - not so much disturbing
40% - not disturbing at all
Loading up at the buffet? It's okay, so are we
Another survey question asked was about food each person would load at the buffet in the hotel dining room. The question at hand was whether, while on a hotel-based vacation either in Israel or abroad, people took more food than they typically do at home. 72 percent answered that they usually load more than they would load at home.
12% - Always
19% - Many times
41% - Sometimes
28% - Never
Do you put bottles of shampoo in your suitcase?
Another question asked dealt with behavior among hotel guests on a global scale. When staying in a hotel, in Israel or abroad, do you get to take home bottles of shampoo from the room? 51 percent claimed not at all, while the other half of the respondents answered that they usually put the bottles in their suitcase.
8% - Always
11% - Often
30% - Sometimes
51% - Never
Would you make the cut as the 'ugliest Israeli abroad'? Absolutely not
The survey's 513 Israelis sampled had to give their thoughts on how Israelis are perceived in the world. While on vacation, do you get the feeling that you are being looked at as an "ugly Israeli"? In response, around 80 percent of Israeli participants do not feel that they or their behavior was viewed as ugly or inappropriate while on vacation.
4% - Often
17% - Sometimes
26% - Rarely
54% - Never
The research was conducted by the Geocartography Surveys Institute. This was part of an internet survey that sampled 513 respondents, aged 18 and over, who are a national and representative sample of the population in the State of Israel (Jews and Arabs as part of the population). They are all internet surfers. The maximum statistical error range under this sampling circumstance is 4.32% + at a 95% statistical significance level.