Countries With The Happiest Travelers

It's human nature to form opinions about the nature and disposition of tourists according to where they call home. It may not be nice, ethically, but it happens all the time. RewardExpert analyzed 3.5 million hotel reviews from more than 70 countries, including reviewers from 83 countries, to determine from where the world's grumpiest and happiest travelers hail.

The South American country comes in at number 10, with 46.16 percent of reviews rated their hotel experience five stars. According to this figure alone, Colombia would tie for first-place with Russia; however, Colombia's ranking for overall happiness is decreased by a higher prevalence of one- and two-star reviews. Nevertheless, folding in the 33.51 percent of reviews with four-star ratings, four in five Colombian tourists were happy with their experience.

Given Americans' reputations for being both vocal and cheery while abroad, it would have been highly surprising if the United States did not rank among the countries home to seemingly happy tourists. Out of the 459,188 reviews in the data set, Americans gave out 218,839 five-star ratings, amounting to 48.67 percent of all reviews.

Geographically speaking, nothing but the Jordan River and the Dead Sea separates our sixth- and eighth-place countries for tourist happiness. The proportion of the 1,463 reviews authored by Jordanians traveling abroad that contained a five-star rating was 48.87 percent. A possible reason for the rather sanguine disposition of Jordanians traveling abroad is that Jordanians are keen on stepping out of their borders. A great many Jordanians have lived and/or worked abroad, and a significant percentage of its population currently does.

The world's seventh-happiest international tourists are from Georgia. Out of a total of 8,806 reviews, slightly less than half of them (4,348) were five-star reviews, or 49.38 percent. Like Israelis, Georgians ranked slightly higher for one- and two-star reviews (75th) than three or four stars (78th).

Five-star reviews flow as freely as milk and honey when Israelis leave their promised land. Israel would have taken first place with 51.24 percent of all reviews being "happy," five-star reviews (as compared to an average 38.55 percent), but Israelis were rather stingy with four-star reviews, which made up 31.41 percent, as compared to the overall average of 36.81 percent.

It is with a small amount of historical irony that Belarus appears on the list as the home of the world's fifth-happiest tourists. From the 12th century until the end of the 18th, Belarus was part of Lithuania, home of the tenth grumpiest tourists. Happiness-indicating five-star reviews authored by Belarusian tourists are nearly five times as prevalent as reviews by disgruntled Lithuanians, making up 48.97 percent of the 1,307 reviews for Belarus, 8.14 percent higher than the prevalence of five-star reviews by Lithuanians.

Australia may be known as the land down under, but Australians abroad are anything but downspirited. Australians who wrote five-star reviews made up 46.64 percent of 164,137 reviews, while another 35.08 percent were happy enough for four stars. Combining these, we can say that four out of every five Australian tourists are happy, while less than one in ten are either ill-tempered grumps or just having some bad luck, a bad day, or a legitimately bad stay.

Lebanon ranks third, overall, for being home to happy international tourists. The percentage of reviews in the "happy" subset of Lebanese tourists is 45.69 percent, while only 7.8 percent of reviews belonged to the "grumpy" subset. Lebanon is noted for having the highest GDP and Human Development Index in the Arab world, and is a hotspot for both diversity and culture, resulting in many affluent and discerning tourists. And while money can't buy happiness, it can improve your odds of being happy with your accommodations.

Serbia and Russia could not have more in common: both were once dominant nations in a former multi-ethnic Communist state, the U.S.S.R. and Yugoslavia, and their languages are related. Now, we can add another similarity: Serbians are the second happiest international tourists in the world, and their rank is due much more to the low incidence of one- and two-star reviews: a trifling 7.10 percent of Serbians' reviews.

Russia takes first place for being home to the world's happiest tourists. Five-star reviews made up an impressively high 46.16 percent of 70,775 reviews, but this alone would only have had Russia ranked sixth place. Even including the 36.61 percent of reviews with four-star ratings, for a total 82.77 percent positive reviews, it wasn't quite enough for Russia to rank number one. What puts Russia over the top is the fact that it ranked dead last for grumpy, one and two-star reviews, with a shockingly low 4.99 percent of reviews that rated their stay one or two stars. For the happiest travelers in the U.S., click here.