French labelled world's worst tourists

[Treffie]

Posted Fri Jul 10, 2009 8:25pm AEST

Penny-pinching, rude and terrible at foreign languages - French people are the world's worst tourists according to a study of the global hotel industry.

The study by the global hotel industry in 27 countries says the Japanese are the best tourists and ranks Australians sixth.

Carried out last month by TNS Infratest, the study asked 40,000 hotels worldwide to rank tourists from 27 countries based on nine criteria, from their politeness to their willingness to tip.

Clean, polite, quiet and uncomplaining, Japanese tourists came top of the crop for the third year running.

At the other end of the spectrum, French holidaymakers and business travellers were the least open to new languages, ranked last for generosity and readiness to tip, and next-to-last for their overall attitude and politeness.

Pushy French travellers made amends on elegance - classed third - as well as for their discretion and cleanliness.

Despite cliches about beer-guzzling hordes descending on Mediterranean resorts each summer, Britons came a surprise second for their overall attitude, politeness, discretion and even elegance.

The model Japanese were followed by Canadians as the least likely to whinge when a trip goes wrong.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...10/2622945.htm

[Eldritch]

In my own experience niothing could could be further from the truth.

While everybody in Helsinki loves groups of Japanese tourists, by far the worst are young, drunken English males.

Btw, did you know that there weren't any telephones, televisions or electricity in this country until the 80's? I know this because a young British tourist who had read it in the The Times told me so.

[Octothorpe]

My (admittedly limited) exposure to the French has been rather negative, including a student I had two years ago. She was vastly ignorant of many things, yet convinced of her innate superiority and willing to challenge me on data that I knew as fact that she wanted to claim as otherwise. Quite the little bitch, in fact. And very hard to understand, at times. She was also curiously blind to the fact that I was the one grading HER, not the other way around . . .

[Luern]

"Penny-pinching, rude and terrible at foreign languages"

"At the other end of the spectrum, French holidaymakers and business travellers were the least open to new languages, ranked last for generosity and readiness to tip, and next-to-last for their overall attitude and politeness."

It's all about money and language for the most part. Sorry for not spending our money as if there were no tomorrow.
Tipping is not a tradition in France. It is something we're not used to.

French are a bit grumpy, that's quite true. When I'm abroad, I represent my nation, so I behave and try to be nice.

As for the foreign languages, I don't understand the problem. If I'm a tourist and you're working in a hotels. I've got the money, you want my money. I don't speak your language, you have to speak mine. Le client est Roi.

"Clean, polite, quiet and uncomplaining, Japanese tourists came top of the crop for the third year running."

Would you expect a sheep to complain?

Btw, did you know that there weren't any telephones, televisions or electricity in this country until the 80's? I know this because a young British tourist who had read it in the The Times told me so.

Which country?

[Útrám]

As a citizen of a country swarming with tourists most of the time, I have concluded that any nationality can't hold a candle to the British, esp. the English and esp. the young adults. I mean holy s***, these people should be tested to see if they are qualified for tourism.

[Eldritch]

Which country?

If you're referring to the destination country, it's Finland, while the country of origin is England.

[Luern]

If you're referring to the destination country, it's Finland, while the country of origin is England.

Which country had no phones/tvs nor electricity in the 80's?

[Eldritch]

Which country had no phones/tvs nor electricity in the 80's?

The point was that some English tourists believed this country had no telephones etc .... until the 80's.

[Beorn]

I'd say the only thing bad about French tourists is they seem to ride upon a magical pair of legs firmly placed up their arse.
Lousy tippers and lousy to serve, but the more pioneering French tourist which used to moor up and drink in the pub I worked were absolute charms. Very well liked.

The best tourists by any comparison are the Yanks. They love it! Literally! They will gasp and gawk at anything with an inch of dust on it and ask questions to you if you even look as if you might know the answer.

They tip very well and are more inclined to relax and be patient with service.

As for the British, it seems the Scots and Welsh do seem to have a bad reputation abroad. They drink too much and get very loud and angry at anyone.

The curse of the British I suppose? But we still love them.


EDIT: When I do say the Yanks, I do mean the Canadians too. They are just as friendly and kind.

No, it's just your politicians Europeans hate.

[Absinthe]

The British and the Italians are the most notorious groups.

Regarding the British, don't even get me started The kinds that populate greek islands are probably the lowest life forms on the planet. I hope British members do not take offense, I am sure they know very well what I am talking about, the low-class, binge-drinking, hooligan types along with the drunken tarts that hold blow-job competition in the middle of the street

I know not every British tourist is like that, and I suspect that the high quality British tourists choose other destinations other than the popular ones, such as the greek islands (who can blame them?) *shrugs*

There is a kind of Italians that travel in groups of loud males, tend to be overly drunk and to grab female buttocks any chance they get. Those are persona non grata as well.

As for the French...I've never had unpleasant experiences with them....they tend to be very quiet, polite and civilized. Well-mannered. They don't tip? Who cares. There's hardly any services worth tipping for in Greece anyway

I'd say the most well behaved and liked tourists are Scandinavians, Asians, Germans, especially when they travel with their families