French the world’s worst tourists, says TNS

The French are the fussiest, rudest, cheapest tourists in the world, according to a study by TNS Infratest for Expedia, an online travel agency. The study showed that the French are unwilling to tip, are uncooperative and will not attempt to speak the local language when travelling abroad.

Meanwhile, the British were voted the worst tourists in Europe. The study cites British tourists’ drunken, loud and obnoxious behavior in beach destinations throughout Europe as examples of why they topped Europe’s list.

“Europeans, of course, do not have English as their first language and the one thing the Britons are pretty bad at is speaking the language of the country they’re in,” a spokesman for the Association of British Travel Agents told Sky News who believes British tourists’ language barrier is a core problem. “Imagine if there’s a group of Spaniards, say, in Manchester (Northern England). And they go into a bar, order a drink in Spanish and will not make any effort to communicate in our language,” he said, adding “we’d consider it rude and arrogant, and I think the rest of Europe does too.”

The best tourists in the world are the Japanese, because they’re polite and they’re good tippers, followed closely by the Canadians.

The study surveyed 40,000 hotels globally and ranked tourists from 27 countries based on nine criteria, including their general demeanor and cleanliness.