I thought this was interesting. Considering how many times I've heard the disgust for American tourists. I feel better now.
Remember the tightwad tourist whose baggy shorts, frequent complaining and
shouted questions about why none of the locals spoke any English made the ugly
American the world's Visitor From Hell? Well, it's time for Archie Bunker
to move over and make way for Petulant Pierre. According to a recent
international survey, the French are now considered the most obnoxious tourists
from European nations, and behind only Indians and the last-place Chinese as the
worst among all countries worldwide. And it's not only the rest of the world
that have a gripe with the Gallic attitude: the French also finished second to
last among nations ranking the popularity of their own tourists who vacation at
home.
But it's the unflattering image being reflected from abroad that may give
pause to the millions of French travelers now heading off to summer vacation
destinations across the globe. Will that move them to improve behavior
the poll characterized as impolite, prone to loud carping and inattentive to
local customs? If so, that's just the start: the study also describes the
voyageur franÇais as often unwilling or unable to communicate in foreign
languages, and particularly disinclined to spending money when they don't
have to - including on those non compris tips. Over all, French
travelers landed 19th out of 21 nations worldwide, far behind the first-place
Japanese, considered most polite, quiet and tidy. Following the Japanese as
most-liked tourists were the Germans, British and Canadians. Americans finished
in 11th place alongside the Thais.
The survey was carried out among employees in 4,000 hotels in Germany, the
U.K., Italy, France, Canada and the U.S. for the French travel website Expedia.fr. The study asked
respondents to rank clients by nationality on criteria of general attitude,
politeness, tendency to complain, willingness to speak local languages, interest
in sampling local cuisine, readiness to spend money, generosity, cleanliness,
discretion and elegance. Many replies simply conformed to long-established
reputations: Italians, for example, were described as the best-dressed tourists,
with the French not far behind.
American tourists fared well in some surprising ways: despite being
notoriously language-limited, for example, they top the list of tourists
credited with trying to speak local languages the most, with the French,
Chinese, Japanese, Italians and Russians coming in last in the local language
rankings. Does that mean Americans are the most polyglot tourists on the planet?
Maybe not, says Expedia's marketing director for
Europe, TimothÉe
de Roux, who notes the poll's
focus on hotel operators may explain the counterintuitive outcome.
"Most hotel staffs around the world speak English, meaning they'll
communicate far more easily with native English-speaking American or British
clients than with French or Italians who - it's true - are pretty bad with foreign languages," de Roux says.
De Roux explains how external factors similarly account for why Americans
wind up as the biggest-spending and best-tipping tourists, while Germans and the
French are among the worst penny-pinchers. "Our findings show the average French
employee will get 37 vacation days spread over seven trips in 2008, versus 14
for an American - who won't even take them all," de Roux believes. "That means
the French tourist will more tightly budget his or her spending over more trips,
while the American spends freely on the one or two vacations taken all year."
By contrast, poll finds the French and Americans similar in being perceived
as critical and rude when they travel - though for different reasons. The same
local attractions that make France
the world's top destination for 92 million foreign visitors each year, says de
Roux, also explains why over 85% of French vacation in-country - and wind up
spoiled by it when they leave. "When they go abroad, French travellers demand
the same quality they'd get at home," de Roux says. "Americans, by contrast,
demand the same exceptional service they are used to at home, which is why they
rank as the loudest, most inclined to complain, and among the least polite."
View this article on Time.com