An international study has found French tourists to be the world’s worst tourists, being “penny-pinching, rude and terrible at foreign languages”, according to Yahoo!NEWS.   The French received the lowest score of all countries on their generosity and willingness to tip, and were rated second to last on their behaviour and politeness. They are least likely to try to speak a new language.  Their redeeming attributes are being elegant, discreet and clean.

Conducted by TNS Infratest in June, hotels across the world were requested to rate tourists from 27 countries on the basis of 9 criteria.

Japanese tourists scored best for the third year running, especially on being clean and tidy, polite, quiet and uncomplaining.  

Americans are most likely to try to speak the language of their host country, especially when it comes to ordering food.    They are also highly rated for their generosity in terms of spending and tips, but are berated for being least tidy, and for being loud, badly dressed and the worst complainers.

Tourists from the UK scored second best overall, and were well rated on their politeness, quietness and elegance.

Spanish and Greek tourists share most of the negative tourist attributes with those from France.

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