French are the world's worst tourists

July 10, 2009 1:55 PM

French tourists have been named as the worst in the world, with hoteliers claiming they are rude and the meanest tippers.

A survey of over 4,500 hoteliers worldwide ranked tourists based on - everything from spending habits to their willingness to try and speak the local language.

Unsurprisingly the Japanese were found to be far and away the world's best tourists, scoring highly not only as the quietest and most polite but also the cleanest and least likely to complain.

Brits seem to have shrugged off the traditional bad traveller stereotype and came second in the list with hoteliers saying they are polite and generous.

While being labeled as rude is unlikely to worry many French tourists, this next finding is bound to hurt them ... Brits were also considered to be better dressers than the garlic eating surrender monkeys.

A spokesperson for Expedia who conducted the research said: "The Expedia Best Tourist Index, running annually since 2002, gauges the opinions of over 4,500 hoteliers worldwide to rank different nationalities on their behaviour abroad.

2009 Expedia Best Tourist Global Index

1 Japanese                 14= New Zealanders
2 British                  16 Thais
3 Canadians                17= Portuguese
4 Germans                  17= Czechs
5 Swiss                      19= Italians
6= Dutch               19= Irish
6= Australians             19= Brazilians
8= Swedish                 22= Polish
8= Americans             22= South Africans
10= Danes                  24= Turkish
10= Norwegians       24= Greeks
10= Finnish                26 Spanish
10= Belgians              27 French
14= Austrians

LINKS
Expedia