Active Americans
Who says Americans aren't cultured?
When asked how they like to spend time on summer vacation, 46% of Americans say they prefer sightseeing at places like museums, historical monuments and cathedrals -- ahead of the 30% of Western Europeans and 22% of Central Europeans who said this year they favor sightseeing vacations. And forget the image of Americans as couch potatoes: Some 40% of Americans said they like to participate in sports on vacation, such as biking, sailing and climbing -- making them the fifth-sportiest nation after the Greeks, Finns, Austrians and Swiss.
The findings come from a vacation survey conducted recently for The Wall Street Journal Europe by GfK Ad Hoc Research Worldwide. The researcher queried Americans about their vacation preferences as part of a survey of more than 20,000 individuals in the U.S. and 19 countries in Western and Central Europe, including Russia and Turkey. (For the 1,000 Americans surveyed, the margin of error is a maximum of plus or minus 3.2%; countries with fewer respondents, including Finland and Switzerland, have a maximum margin of error of 4.5%.)
Among the survey's key findings was that beaches are the universal favorite destination; 50% of Western Europeans, 36% of Central Europeans and 29% of Americans picked the shore over lakes, cities, mountains, cruise ships or car touring. Americans' No. 2 pick? Staying home, an option selected by 16%.
If you want to avoid fellow Americans on vacation, the survey suggests, steer clear of Great Britain. Fourteen percent of U.S. respondents chose the British Isles as the European country they most want to visit, just edging out Italy. And if you are thinking about taking a cruise, brush up on your francais. Of those surveyed, the French were tied with Americans as the most interested in cruises, with 10% naming them as their favorite kind of vacation.
E-Mail Reaches the Beach
SURF'S UP: This summer, high-end hotels from California to the Caribbean are letting guests check their e-mail from underneath their beach umbrellas, by adding wireless Internet zones down to the sand.
In Virgin Gorda, Rosewood's Little Dix Bay added a WiFi network in May that gives computer users Internet access from the hotel-front beach, while Hyatt Regency Grand Cayman introduced resortwide wireless Internet earlier this year. Coming up: Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, which already has WiFi zones, is expanding its coverage in the next few weeks, while the Sanctuary, a 255-room luxury hotel opening next month on South Carolina's Kiawah Island, said it made sure its new network would reach the beach.
Hotels say that for many business travelers, WiFi in the lobby and rooms is no longer enough. Loews Santa Monica, for one, says guests requested the service be expanded to the shore, while Barbados's Sandy Lane, which has had the service for a few years now, says it hooks up six to 10 guests every day. But hotels are also making the idea pay: Sandy Lane's WiFi is included with the room -- prices start at $700 per night -- but access to the service costs $20 per day at Little Dix and $17.99 per day at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cayman. And type fast at Loews Santa Monica: Access there runs $15 per hour.
Surfside surfing may have other costs. More than a few hours' worth of exposure to salt air and weather can damage a computer's innards, says Noori Mohed, a serviceman at Los Angeles's Micro Computer Center, who adds that getting water or sand in a keyboard is a "100% guarantee of damage." Hotels say the risk belongs to the customer. "Most guests use [WiFi] at the pool," says Sandy Lane network administrator Kerry Howard. "Taking your $3,000 laptop in the sand is at your own risk."
谁说美国人没教养？
谁说美国人没有教养？
如果你问问美国人夏季想怎样度假，有46%的人会回答说想去参观博物馆、历史纪念碑和教堂等地方 -- 而在西欧和中欧分别只有30%和22%的人表示喜欢这样的观光活动。别总觉得美国人好像就爱边吃零食边看电视，其实有40%的美国人表示喜欢利用假期参加体育活动，如骑自行车、划船和登山等，这使美国成为仅次于希腊、芬兰、奥地利和瑞士的第五大最爱运动的民族。
以上都是《华尔街日报》欧洲版(The Wall Street Journal Europe)近期委托GfK Ad Hoc Research Worldwide进行的一份调查所显示的结果。接受调查的共有两万多人，分布于美国和西欧、中欧的19个国家，如俄罗斯和土耳其等。调查的主要内容是询问人们假期最想做什么。(有1,000个美国人接受了调查，统计误差不超过正负3.2%；芬兰和瑞士等受访人数较少的国家，统计误差不超过4.5%。)
调查还发现，海滨是大部分人都喜欢的地方；50%的西欧人、36%的中欧人和29%的美国人都认为，去海边比去湖区、城市、山林、乘豪华游轮和自驾车旅行更好。除此之外，美国人的第二选择是哪儿呢？家里。有16%的美国人都愿意度假在家里待著。
调查显示，如果你不想去一个美国人都去的地方，那你就不要去英国。有14%接受调查的美国人都认为到欧洲最想去的地方是不列颠群岛，其次是意大利。如果你想乘坐豪华游轮，那就先复习一下你的法语吧。根据调查，法国人和美国人最喜欢乘游轮观光，这两部份人群中将此作为首选渡假方式的比例均为10%。
海边也“无线”
海边冲浪:今年夏天，从加利福尼亚到加勒比海的高档酒店的游客都可以在沙滩太阳伞下查收自己的电子邮件，在沙滩上实现无线上网。
在维尔京戈尔达岛的Little Dix Bay饭店5月份增设了无线保真(Wi-Fi)网络服务，使用电脑的顾客在饭店前的海滩上也能上网。Hyatt Regency Grand Cayman今年年初也在整个度假地安装了无线网络系统。Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel将在未来几周扩大其无线保真网络通讯区域的覆盖范围。南卡罗莱纳州Kiawah Island的豪华酒店Sanctuary将于下月开张，这家拥有255个房间的酒店表示，将确保顾客能在海滩上上网。
经营饭店的人士表示，对于很多商务游客来说，仅在饭店大堂和房间里有无线保真网络已不能满足他们的需要。Loews Santa Monica称，已有游客要求在海滩上网；已经向游客提供无线网络服务多年的巴巴多斯的Sandy Lane表示，每天都有6到10个客人是因为这项服务而入住这家酒店的。不过，酒店也不会白白提供这项服务：Sandy Lane享受无线网络的价格包含在房费里面，每晚住宿费用的起价是700美元；在Little Dix，使用网络每天要额外加收20美元服务费；Hyatt Regency Grand Cayman每天的收费是17.99美元。更夸张的是，在Loews Santa Monica每小时的上网费是15美元。
在海边上网冲浪可能还会招致其他成本。洛杉矶Micro Computer Center的服务人员Noori Mohed说，在海边上网时间过长，含盐的空气以及天气因素会使电脑的内部元件受到损害，进水或进沙绝对会使键盘受到损害。饭店则说，这些风险要由客户自行承担。“多数客人会在泳池边使用无线网络上网”，Sandy Lane的网络管理员Kerry Howard说。“如果你价值3000美元的笔记本电脑进了沙子，那可得你自己负责。”
