TripAdvisor.com European travel survey results are in…what do they mean?

The news going around travel circles is the new TripAdvisor annual European travel survey. The survey included 1400 travelers worldwide which means that the results have some weight behind them…how much weight? Nobody really knows, but survey results are always fun to look at. And as always survey results can be interpreted in many many ways.

People’s rating of travel experiences is mostly based on…personal experience and therefore it depends on many factors. The proverbial “today I have a bad day” can play a really important part in someone’s rating of a travel experience. On the other hand that’s what surveys are supposed to capture…right?

How do you interpret these results?

How would you interpret these results? Would you not visit Zurich because it has been labeled as boring? Or how about London, Paris and Rome? They have won the “dirtiest city” award but they are the most visited cities by far. So, what do you make of these results? I believe it would be a lot of fun to see what you think…so feel free and add some comments.

First, here are the results of the survey done by TripAdvisor.com

It’s all in the interpretation

Just so you see how confusing survey results can be…take a look at the second and third categories. London has the best parks and yet it ranks the dirtiest European city. I guess the parks are clean, and the rest of the city is not…maybe it’s true. But how about London’s shops? It ranks second in the “best shopping” category. But are the shops clean or are only the parks clean or both? So then, London is dirty but it has clean parks and shops…right? Well…you can use these results any way you like. You can probably come up with some very interesting combination.

On the other hand, I happen to agree with Brussels earning the “Most Boring European City” award. I have said that myself in my Bruxelles post…only I didn’t use those words. I have only labeled it as “not that exciting”.

Surprisingly however, Zurich “won” the second place in the “boring city” category. While I have only spent about 5 hours in Zurich I did not find it boring at all. I actually wanted to come back and visit it again. But just to confirm the confusion Zurich won the top nomination for the cleanest European city. What does this tell you ? Can you say that if you visit Zurich you will be “cleanly bored” ? Or does it mean that there is nothing to see in Zurich even though it is clean? So there you have it…it’s all in the interpretation !

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Share your own experience !
As a traveler, I love reading about other people's travel experiences. I know for certain that my articles are by no means complete and they can certainly benefit from your input. Feel free to share your own experience and add a comment or correction to this article.
| March 14, 2008 | Posted in Most Popular, Travel Tips |