The Tourist Trap

The aim of the series was to find out if national stereotypes are true or false. To do this we took over a hotel in Turkey and rigged it with hidden cameras and microphones. Then we flew out, in consecutive weeks, 30 British, 30 German, 30 Japanese and 30 American tourists. The groups were selected so that they were matched for age, sex, occupation and income. Each week we set up the same incidents for the groups to deal with. These incidents were psychology experiments designed to test national stereotypes. So, for example, every Wednesday the bus driver taking the group back to the hotel appeared to be drunk. The British group got angry, while the German group was concerned that the driver should not lose his job because of their complaint. Other information was also gained: for example, the amount of beer each group drank was measured. The British group drank more than the other three groups put together. The series was a ratings success, but the reviews were mixed.