India, June 16 -- Every holiday season, right after the mandatory airport selfie and just before somebody posts a sunset with the caption 'Living my best life', another familiar travel ritual begins: a heated discussion about Indian tourists and travel etiquette.

Everyone agrees there is a problem. Nobody seems to agree what the problem actually is.

One camp insists Indian tourists are unfairly stereotyped. Another is convinced we are personally responsible for every queue violation from Delhi to Dublin. A third camp is busy forwarding videos of tourists dancing or behaving badly - which are not the same thing, but usually accompanied by enough outrage to power a small city.

The trouble is that most conversations stop at "people have n...