July 11th, 2009, 08:07
Global research carried out on behalf of Expedia by TNS, June 10 - June 23 2009 on 4,557 hoteliers worldwide focusing on Europe, the Americas (North and South America), Africa and Asia Pacific.
HOLIDAYING BRITS WORST BEHAVED IN EUROPE
London, 10th July 2009 - British tourists have been named as the worst behaved in Europe, according to new research out today. For the third year running, Europeans have also voted the Brits messy, bad tippers and very likely to complain.
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 - everything from spending habits to their willingness to try and speak the local language.
International relations
While the Europeans are critical of British holidaymakers, the rest of the world paints a different picture. For the second consecutive year, British holidaymakers are runners-up overall in the worldwide Best Tourist rankings. A fifth (18%) of those surveyed commended the Brits for their politeness, while those from the UK were ranked second in the best behaved category and most generous nationality, although trounced here by the Americans who comfortably stormed in to first place.
The traditional socks and sandals stereotype of holidaying Brits also seems to be waning. For the second year in a row, they ranked highly in the wardrobe department, rated second most stylish overall, beaten only by the couture-clad Italians, with the French in third place.
Brits on Brits
Despite being voted the second best tourists in the world, Brits have a disparaging view of themselves. A fifth voted their fellow countrymen the worst globally, only behind the Americans. A further 20% claimed home-grown holidaymakers were both the most miserly and the noisy.
"Being voted the worst tourists in the world by our closest neighbours highlights the fact that the 'Brits Abroad' moniker is a label we still haven't managed to shrug off. While we are in second place in the global 'Best Tourist' rankings, we clearly have a job to do to convince our European counterparts and those at home that we can be better behaved on holiday," says Jonathan Cudworth, head of product marketing, Expedia.co.uk.
The Good, The Bad & The French
The Index reveals that the Japanese are 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.
Britain's friends across The Channel didn't fare quite so well with hoteliers naming the French as the world's worst European tourists. As well as being the most frugal and meanest tippers, they can also lay claim to being among the rudest tourists in Europe, with a tenth of hoteliers citing them as most impolite.
Additional findings
Speaking louder and slower is a thing of the past as Brits move up the rankings from last year to number three, being the most likely to try to speak the local language
Worldwide, the Japanese, British, Canadians, Germans and Australians are considered the most polite nations.
TheTop 3 loudest nations are the Americans, Italians and Spanish
After the Americans and the British, the next biggest tippers are the Germans and the Japanese.
Canadians, Australians and Swiss were the other top five nationalities named as least likely to complain.
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
http://press.expedia.co.uk/press-releases/2009/holidaying-brits-worst-behaved-in-europe.aspx
HOLIDAYING BRITS WORST BEHAVED IN EUROPE
London, 10th July 2009 - British tourists have been named as the worst behaved in Europe, according to new research out today. For the third year running, Europeans have also voted the Brits messy, bad tippers and very likely to complain.
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 - everything from spending habits to their willingness to try and speak the local language.
International relations
While the Europeans are critical of British holidaymakers, the rest of the world paints a different picture. For the second consecutive year, British holidaymakers are runners-up overall in the worldwide Best Tourist rankings. A fifth (18%) of those surveyed commended the Brits for their politeness, while those from the UK were ranked second in the best behaved category and most generous nationality, although trounced here by the Americans who comfortably stormed in to first place.
The traditional socks and sandals stereotype of holidaying Brits also seems to be waning. For the second year in a row, they ranked highly in the wardrobe department, rated second most stylish overall, beaten only by the couture-clad Italians, with the French in third place.
Brits on Brits
Despite being voted the second best tourists in the world, Brits have a disparaging view of themselves. A fifth voted their fellow countrymen the worst globally, only behind the Americans. A further 20% claimed home-grown holidaymakers were both the most miserly and the noisy.
"Being voted the worst tourists in the world by our closest neighbours highlights the fact that the 'Brits Abroad' moniker is a label we still haven't managed to shrug off. While we are in second place in the global 'Best Tourist' rankings, we clearly have a job to do to convince our European counterparts and those at home that we can be better behaved on holiday," says Jonathan Cudworth, head of product marketing, Expedia.co.uk.
The Good, The Bad & The French
The Index reveals that the Japanese are 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.
Britain's friends across The Channel didn't fare quite so well with hoteliers naming the French as the world's worst European tourists. As well as being the most frugal and meanest tippers, they can also lay claim to being among the rudest tourists in Europe, with a tenth of hoteliers citing them as most impolite.
Additional findings
Speaking louder and slower is a thing of the past as Brits move up the rankings from last year to number three, being the most likely to try to speak the local language
Worldwide, the Japanese, British, Canadians, Germans and Australians are considered the most polite nations.
TheTop 3 loudest nations are the Americans, Italians and Spanish
After the Americans and the British, the next biggest tippers are the Germans and the Japanese.
Canadians, Australians and Swiss were the other top five nationalities named as least likely to complain.
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
http://press.expedia.co.uk/press-releases/2009/holidaying-brits-worst-behaved-in-europe.aspx