The world's best and worst tourists

[underpants]

A survey of hotels worldwide has bestowed the dubious honor of world's worst tourists on the people of France.

Ranked on nine categories, from politeness to dress to generosity, the survey last month, conducted by TNS Infratest for Expedia, rated the French as rude, cheap and the least apt to try a new language, Agence France-Presse reports. They did, however, rank high on elegance, cleanliness and discretion.

The Japanese are considered the best travelers and are viewed as the cleanest and politest.

And Americans? They got top marks as the biggest spenders and tippers and were judged the most likely to give a new language a whirl. But U.S. tourists fell way short on several other criteria. The "ugly Americans" are seen as the most untidy, the loudest, the worst complainers and the worst dressed.

The BBC has more.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/07/survey-french-are-worlds-worst-tourists.html

[dipsydoodle]

1. So where did those from

the mini principality of Guantanamo Bay rank ? :shrug:

[theoldman]

3. At first assertive, then humble.

[theoldman]

2. When I traveled to a foreign country I could always recognize my fellow American.

They were fat and arrogant. Most Europeans I met in the US and Asia were polite and well dressed. I have made several trips to France and was always treated nice. I have never met any French tourist so I cannot comment on their behavior in the US or Asia.

[Buzz Clik]

4. Untidy and loud. That's bad. But worst dressed? Meh.

[kiva]

5. Actually, US tourists rate in the top 10 best

according to this BBC article about the subject. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8143780.stm

Some rather interesting criteria: "tidiness, discretion, elegance", not something we necessarily consider part of role of tourists, which may be why Americans don't do well in these catagories. Particularly discretion, not something we do well.

[Warpy]

6. Most likely to give a new language a whirl?

Wow, there's a shocker! I guess I'm too used to people here who get all bent out of shape when someone speaks to them with a thick accent, never mind a foreign language. I see us as incredibly ethnocentric and unwilling to twist our mouths into a different shape to spit out "Ou est la salle de bain, s'il vous plait?" before we do something childish.

The complaining, untidiness, sloppiness, and generosity seem right on target though.

[frazzled]

10. There's a reason not to speak in a foreign language abroad, beyond "excuse me," "thanks," etc.

I speak fairly fluent French, so when I ask a question I can understand the response in detail. In Germany or Austria, I can speak and understand with very fractured competence.

If I am in, say, Prague, however, having learned to ask the location of the bathroom is pretty useless if the answer is "up the rear stairway on the third floor to the left, but you'll need to get a key from the front desk first." I tried this: I spent four hours with a native Czech teacher to learn basic pronunciation and vocabulary, and studied a list of typical questions and phrases for several days, carrying the list with me. I never used more than 'good day," thank you," etc., however, because I can't understand a word of response. So go ahead and ask in clear, slow English with hand signs, and then say "thank you" politely in the native language. People will understand your dilemma.

We can't know all the languages of the countries to which we travel. Just learn a few polite declarative sentences and it will be appreciated.

Xie xie nin!

[Warpy]

14. Bu ke xie

There are a lot of languages I'd need to hire an interpreter for. I do manage to read quite a bit of stuff in the foreign press, though.

Written Chinese is way beyond me, I'm afraid, although I do know how to use a Chinese to English dictionary.

[marmar]

7. Traveling thru Europe, I would always get slightly tense when other Americans were around....

..... for fear of embarassment.

Many were great - wanting to learn about and adapt to local customs, discreet and polite, and generally classy.
But the exceptions - GOod grief! Loud, pissed because our mass generic prepackaged culture was a little harder to find. I remember sitting in a restaurant in Brussels when two Americans bitched and complained forever because they didn't have ketchup for the pomme frites (fries, which Europeans most often eat with mayo).
OR the couple bitching out a worker at a crepe stand in Paris because his English wasn't good.....
OR the people yelling at the front desk staff at a hotel in Amsterdam because the hotel had hand towels and bath towels but no face towels (also very common in Europe)....


Mon dieu!

[Mari333]

8. It just depends, concerning americans,...

when my husband and I went to Ireland and England, we were respectful and quiet, and well versed on everywhere we went (I was an afficienado of studying archeoanthropology and wandering around sites of neolithic and paleolithic this n that)..
when we went into pubs we were quiet and until we opened our mouths to order, no one was the wiser. Than, the patrons or pub owner would say 'oh its nice to meet you, you are different then a lot of the Yanks who come in here and boast about how much money they have and their Irish ancestors"..
the cabbies in Ireland even invited us to their homes for dinner! when we left, one of them brought us a gift of little Bailley's glasses ..and they would take us, for free, to out of the way places they considered sacred to their homeland.
I think they just appreciated the fact that I knew about their culture and history, and avoided the tourist traps.
But dressing elegant? wtf. that never crosses my mind, because I usually walk through fields of sheepshit when I go overseas, looking for longbarrow graves and earth mounds. Im never interested in the cities.
Yes, I did see one american man on the tram from the airport..he was loud.
but in England, in the pubs, some of the men were even louder then the americans. I guess there are wankers everywhere.

[CanonRay]

9. I run into a lot of Germans

I've found them to be mostly loud, pushy and obnoxious. Although clean and well dressed.

[underpants]

11. you can usually pick them out of the crowd

the black socks and sandals is the giveaway

[UndertheOcean]

12. yeah , what is the deal with Germans and socks with sandals ?

[underpants]

13. Don't know

I lived there for three years when I was in the Army

:shrug:

I never got it. Ist just.....

[Warpy]

15. Dunno, but it extends to the "full Cleveland"

The "full Cleveland" is pleated plaid pants, a golf shirt, a white belt and white shoes. In August, the pants might be shorts and the shoes will be sandals with socks, but that belt will always be there.

It's a dead giveaway, guys.

[dipsydoodle]

16. Everyone to their thing I suppose.

I find it quite easy to spot American tourists in the UK by the crap sneakers they wear. Why the fuck the country who managed to produce old skool Converses should wear anything other than those completely defeats me.