After a Kiwi tourist hit international headlines with his Trevi Fountain stunt, questions are being raised about how often bad holiday behaviour from New Zealanders really occurs.
The viral video of a Kiwi tourist jumping into the Trevi Fountain in Rome prompted Italians to demand increased fines and greater security to protect the landmark.
The 30-year-old, unnamed culprit joins a long history of Kiwi tourists causing havoc in the air and on holiday, some them high-profile New Zealanders.
After a string of recent overseas incidents, House of Travel Botany Junction director Katrina Cole told Ryan Bridge TODAY that Kiwi travellers should follow the simple rule of “don’t be a d***”.
Cole said it was a privilege to visit often historically and culturally significant places, so they should be treated with respect by tourists.
“I think that’s what people are forgetting, that we want them to be around for a long time. So these protocols are put in place for a reason, not just to be annoying,” she said.
Cole said the most important thing was respect, whether that be respect for culture, protocols and people.
“Just listen to or Google exactly what is required of you as a tourist and it’s really clear,” Cole said.
Following the fountain incident, it was discovered this was not the first time a Kiwi had done the same act.
Last year, a London-based tourist from New Zealand was stopped by police and fined for wading into the fountain on a Saturday night. He was also banned from returning to Rome.
Valocity Global CEO Carmen Vicelich told Ryan Bridge TODAY that the act was “hugely embarrassing”, and Massey University sociology professor Paul Spoonley said it was “cringey”.
Spoonley questioned how incidents like this were contributing to our name overseas, as just this week alone, another fellow Kiwi was banned from all Qantas flights after allegedly biting a crew member.
The strange and violent incident on the flight from Melbourne to Dallas caused the plane to be diverted to Tahiti, where the man was later arrested.
In 2024, two Kiwi brothers made headlines in Phuket, Thailand, after getting into a massive scuffle with a local police officer over a traffic violation, which ended with them allegedly trying to grab the officer’s pistol.
In 2012, expats who took part in a Waitangi Day pub crawl around London faced claims that their drunken behaviour was vulgar and embarrassing.
The criticism was sparked by ex-pat Dylan Clements, who complained after he witnessed Kiwis urinating on footpaths and historic monuments, including Westminster Abbey, as they took part in the annual Waitangi Day Circle Line Pub Crawl.
Meanwhile, other more high-profile New Zealanders have been in hot water for their overseas criminal antics, including former All Black Ali Williams.
In 2017, Williams was convicted of buying cocaine outside a Paris nightclub and fined 1500 euros (NZ$2300) by a French court.
The Herald reported in 2019 that a panel of psychologists and sociologists agreed that the cocktail of time off and travel abroad could lead to some unfortunate results.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Hong Kong Polytechnic’s Dr Denis Tolkach said, “Many people travel to escape their daily routines and pressures in a way which can lead to irrational behaviour.
“There is also an absence of the social norms and the judgment from peers that govern how we conduct ourselves at home,” he said.
He said that, with the feeling that you will never meet the people you come across on holiday again, social consequences are less of an inhibition.
The psychologists and sociologists also agreed that another main factor that led to a lapse in behaviour was alcohol.