Emily in Paris has a lot to answer for: Which cities do we have the most unrealistic expectations of? Photo / Sam von Bussel, Magnet; Unslpash
Emily in Paris has a lot to answer for: Which cities do we have the most unrealistic expectations of? Photo / Sam von Bussel, Magnet; Unslpash
A new study has identified the cities that tourists rated the most ‘disappointing’ to better help manage travellers’ expectations.
Paris Syndrome is described as the “sense of crushing disappointment exhibited by individuals when visiting a city that fails to live up to one’s expectations.”
Coined by Japanese psychiatrist Hiroaki Ota at a central Parisian practice, in 1980 he wrote a book on being inundated with tourists whose holidays were such a disappointment it left them hospitalised.
While it’s extremely rare for a bad holiday to result in hallucinations and night sweats, disappointing city breaks are not unfamiliar for travellers.
Overhyped, overvisited and underwhelming - most travellers can remember a trip to a cultural capital that left us feeling a bit “meh”.
Fortunately a guide has been published aiming to break down the likelihood of a disappointing break. Comparing attractions on TripAdvisor for the top 85 cities, the study compiled by Kings Casino has calculated the odds of disappointment from reviews.
Scraping hundreds of thousands of posts for visitor sentiment, key words including “very disappointing” or “not as nice as expected” were used to rate the most likely cities to let down guests. The most disappointing attraction was also identified in each city.
Bangkok was found to be the most disappointing city break. Photo / Florian Wehde, Unsplash
Bangkok was identified as the biggest dissapointment. The Thai Capital was a let down for 16.6 per cent of visitors, especially those who ventured onto Khaosan Road.
The infamous backpacking district was a complete culture shock to wide-eyed young visitors, and some not so young. The most common complaints of the most disappointing attraction is that it is “insanely loud” and only “only lives from its reputation as the backpacker street”. Some comments said it was like being at the centre of an “expat Ghetto” and a joke at their expense.
Close behind, Antalya in Turkey was the second most disappointing (16.5 per cent), followed by Singapore (15.8 per cent), the Bavarian “snoozefest” of Munich (15.7 per cent) and Rimini in Italy (14.2).
“You can’t get much more over commercialised seaside resort in Italy than Rimini,” read one concise review.
Paris, it turns out, is only the 9th most likely to disappoint. 13.8 per cent, or just over one in ten guests regretted their holiday choice. Although this was significantly higher at Montmatre. The attraction most likely to let visitors down, many reviews tell of being “sorely disappointed” especially if guests had fond memories of previous visits to the hill.
“All charm is lost by pushing, shoving and dodging cars. Coffee is a total rip off.”
Conversely, the least disappointing city was Naples. Apart from the city that gave the world pizza, the Neapolitan city by the sea came with few expectations and was most underrated. With only 5.7 per cent of visitors reported being disappointed, it was the most satisfying city break on the list.
Naples will not let you down as the least disappointing tourist city. Photo / Chris Karidis, Unsplash
Washington DC also exceeded expectations. Known as America’s “political swamp” visitors were surprised that DC was nowhere near as dull as ditchwater, with only 6.1 per cent expressing disappointment.
Unless of course you visited the Washington Monument. With a wait list of 30 days, the elevator to the top of the obelisk was largely a let down.
Auckland the only Kiwi city on the list landed in 49th place. With exactly one in ten odds of disappointing tourists (10 per cent) it was a fair bet for an enjoyable city break. As a great base with lots to see in Summer most tourists rated Tamaki Makauru, but said it was a bit of a downer during the winter rainy season.
The 10 most disappointing city breaks and attractions
