French named as world’s worst tourists

Already judged to be Europe’s worst tourists last year, the French have now been named as the worst in the world.

In a survey of 4,500 international hotel owners, they are criticised for not speaking
foreign languages and of being arrogant and tight with their cash.

One reason given for their poor behaviour abroad is that the French are not used to travelling. Most stick to the attractions of their own country.

French tourists were praised for being almost as well dressed abroad as Italians. However, the overall message was that a polite bonjour, merci, or au revoir – spoken in the local language – would be a big improvement.

The next worst tourists were the Spanish and Greeks, said to be noisy and badly behaved.

The Japanese came out top in the survey again. They are polite and discreet, calm in the face of adversity, and they never complain. The only drawback is that they have difficulty speaking other languages.

British and Canadian tourists came second and third in the poll, which was carried out for an Internet travel agency. The survey compared the behaviour of 27 different nationalities.

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tags: France, Japan, Tourism