- You have the flower-shirted, camera-clutching foreigners, who invade on a fleet of planes and buses, spend millions of dollars on cheap rip-off souvenirs and obnoxiously patronize the locals. They always demand that English be spoken to them, because other languages are "strange and uncivilized". Their thinly veiled racism is ignored by the locals because the Americans are rich. Most visible around richer tourist areas with plenty of shopping, these people are the worst tourists. They wreck any destination. Mostly Americans, but there are plenty of Brits and Aussies as well. Usually in tour groups.
- The backpacker is much more polite than the fat souvenir hunter. But these folks can be annoying for the locals nonetheless, because they have no tourist money and ask for the cheapest stuff, which ticks the locals off because they are itching to rip the rich foreigners off. They hail from all parts of the world, mainly from Europe in my experience, and are often dirty, ragged and loving it. Sometimes leaves in a bitter mood because the locals ignore them, since they have no money to spend.
Tourists are often swallowed by alien
cultures. They get lost because they don't speak the
language, they are
gullible and easily ripped off, they ignore local
customs which can seriously tick off the
locals. Once I saw a
Brit severely beaten for failing to observe
Muslim customs in a
mosque. If you are a
tourist, try not to look like a
tourist. That will stave off much potential
embarassment. That's all I can say.
Note: This is in regards to Asia. I'm sure Asian tourists in America act the same way.