The Worst Tourists of the Western World? Oui, The French!

1. lambic
   July 8th, 2008 at 1:57 am

   im a waitress, and unfortunatly this was so true with the uneducated french.the parisians are the worse (often) lets give them a chance though...i work at a new restaurant where people are more concious and it is better

2. Clapoti
   July 8th, 2008 at 2:04 am

   You forgot the part where they say:

   "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."

   I would also include Australians in this

3. Anthony
   July 8th, 2008 at 2:46 am

   France is in Europe.

4. wackybit
   July 8th, 2008 at 3:04 am

   Are you sure the japanese are the nicest?
   I've been living in Thailand and the apartment I'm living in is 80% or more japanese and they are the loudest and rudest people I've ever seen. They gather in groups and they just start talking. Even in nice quiet Italian restaurants, if there is a group of japanese (3 is enough). The whole restaurant can hear what they are saying! except we dont understand them.

   I consider japanese people to be amongst the worst tourist.

   When I went to japan for a trip it was completely different, they are nice and polite. They are even quiet in restaurants.
   Maybe it's because they are in a different country and they just don't care??

5. Anthony
   July 8th, 2008 at 3:49 am

   Thailand and Italy are far apart.

6. Monica
   July 8th, 2008 at 4:59 am

   The Brits in third place? Do me a favour. This study is clearly a load of cobblers, Brits abroad are notorious for being loud, obnoxious drunkards (In certain European countries anyway, countries not included in this study)

   I think the whole thing is a load of rubbish

   (I am British BTW)

7. Nick D.
   July 8th, 2008 at 5:02 am

   Strangely enough, half of the countries where the survey was made (Germany, France, Italy, UK, Canada & the USA) are English speaking countries which are not especially renown for their fondness of France.

8. Bah...
   July 8th, 2008 at 5:34 am

   For the tipping issue:
   In France, service is ALWAYS comprised in the bill (15%), in bars, cafés and restaurants. Tipping is so only when you feel like, and often only a small amount (it's all extra in the waiter's pocket, who already has a decent (albeit not huge...) salary with social security and retirement plan).

   So, abroad, French people don't realize immediately that waiters live in fact from tipping.

9. Algonkin
   July 8th, 2008 at 6:37 am

   Sorry Nick D. but Canada has two official languages French and English and yes, French Canadians are fond of France.

10. Nick D.
    July 8th, 2008 at 6:56 am

    Algonkin,

    Sorry for the omission. Having said that two thirds of Canadians speaks English exclusively. French speakers only amount for a less than a quarter of Canada population and I don't think they were part of those who complained French tourists wouldn't speak the local language.

11. LH
    July 8th, 2008 at 7:08 am

    I´ve heard the same thing about french people.

12. rabrabbit
    July 8th, 2008 at 8:22 am

    France is also the most visited country in the world

13. whatever
    July 8th, 2008 at 9:55 am

    what does being FAT have to do with anything?

14. kid_icarus
    July 8th, 2008 at 11:15 am

    take that ya "cheese eating surrender monkeys!"

    ahhhh i finally get to quote groundskeeper willie....

15. bean
    July 8th, 2008 at 12:20 pm

    The worst tourists I've ever dealt with were Japanese, with Germans a close second. Japanese tour groups in American art museums always try to touch the priceless 300 year old paintings.

16. pfelelep
    July 8th, 2008 at 12:29 pm

    french guy says:

    "Cocoricooooo!"

17. Neatoramawontsendmeapassword
    July 8th, 2008 at 12:58 pm

    Nick D.,

    As a Canadian, I wouldn't be annoyed if a French person spoke French to me. We all learn the language in school, so it would be fun practice. I prefer "real" French anyway... I can't understand "Quebecois" (same language, horribly mangled accent).

    I don't think the anti-French sentiment is as bad here as you think it is, anyway. That seems to be more of an American thing. And as far as them not speaking other languages, my sister found the opposite when she went to France. Everywhere she went, she'd start out in French and the people would automatically switch to English. Maybe they're more stubborn when they travel... I don't know.

    I will agree about the Chinese, though. There are lots of them here (tourists and residents). A lot don't bother to learn the language. It's frustrating to have to deal with them in public. I always end up feeling like the stupid one because I can't understand them. Last time I checked, though, Chinese was not one of our official languages.

18. HW
    July 8th, 2008 at 1:14 pm

    wackybit

    "Maybe it’s because they are in a different country and they just don’t care??"

    Same goes for everybody. Look at the American military. They just get drunk, rape, and then go off and kill somebody the next day.

19. Christophe
    July 8th, 2008 at 2:00 pm

    C'est vrai, nous sommes les pires touristes, surtout les Parisiens.

    And Bah.. has a very good analysis of French tiping.

20. neuralien
    July 8th, 2008 at 4:22 pm

    @Neatoramawontsendmeapassword

    Actually, Québecois French is closer to the actual French root language. The Frence language in France continued its natural evolution and became what it is today whereas Québecois French evolved from the language spoken by the original colonists being mostly the rural, common or less aristocratic people of that period. If you research what French sounded like back in the 17th and 18th century, it would surprisingly sound close to Québecois.

21. just a guy
    July 8th, 2008 at 5:14 pm

    "Overall, French travelers landed 19th out of 21 nations worldwide"

    19 out of 21 doesn't make them the worst. Who is the 21st?

22. jay
    July 8th, 2008 at 5:50 pm

    Take it would a healthy dose of skepticism! ...a lot of bias can enter a poll that tries to quantitate 'nice', 'polite,' and 'rude' etc. These are very subjective and depend on preconceptions to a great degree.(for instance, I know some people in the Midwest that consider others 'rude' if they merely opt out of the rather vapid "have a nice day!" banality.)

23. Greengirl
    July 8th, 2008 at 8:17 pm

    neuralien

    I thought that the majority of the French settlers of the Quebec area were loyal to the aristocracy. I could very well be confused. I agree with the part about Quebecois French being closer to the original French root language. One thing that you can see is that the Revolution never changed the Quebecois French in the use of pronouns and using Catholic Church objects as swears.

24. Gaby
    July 8th, 2008 at 10:59 pm

    Well all of this is completely biased, simply because every culture has it's own conception of politeness. Some cultures may call "hypocrisy" to what other culture defines as "polite" and so on.

    In my own personal experience, the only tourists I've met that has left me with a bad impression were Lebanese (not exactly in the west, then) and that is because the lady I spoke with was particularly moody. But I concur with the survey, the japanese tourists I've met have been wonderful, because they wanted to know more about the regional culture. The swedes I've met have been very nice too.

25. WordyGrrl
    July 9th, 2008 at 12:02 am

    As a GI, I used to run into American tourists overseas and they were just painfully annoying to be around. Not because they were Americans, but because they were "the moneyed class" that can afford to travel overseas and expect the planet's people to kiss their asses.

26. Algonkin
    July 9th, 2008 at 7:11 am

    @ Neuralien

    Not many people know that and I'm glad you said it. Your statement is quite true.

27. Lea
    July 9th, 2008 at 11:49 am

    When I went to france, they were terribly rude and nasty to americans. Now, I agree, americans are pretty annoying tourists but I cannot understand why people go to another country and expect to be treated special. If you are a guest in another country, act like one. The native citizens are not there to cater to your every whim and I never expected that. I just think people should be polite to each other. No one has to like anyone but there's really no reason to be nasty either.

    Interesting side note, I've noticed that even tourists from different states within the US act differently. Just something to consider.

28. Neatoramawontsendmeapassword
    July 9th, 2008 at 7:21 pm

    @ neuralien

    Well, I'm not in the 17th or 18th centuries, am I? History aside, it doesn't help me understand the language past the accent. (It's "farmer French"... LOL. I bet the folks in Quebec would take offense to that!)

29. Henrybleu
    June 14th, 2009 at 1:55 pm

    I just came from my first trip to Paris. I studied the French Language years ago, I practiced it before this trip. I was told that if I did speak English they would be rude to me. I was anxious to speak french there..., but after my first moments there, i felt their repugnancy against me. I also speak spanish, but I couldn't dare to bear more rudeness and rejection. I had fancied for the longest time to one day live there, for what France and Art mean to me, but let me tell you something: I would not spend another cent nor a minute of my life visiting France since I realized how rude, nasty, bestial almost ,the french people act towards the tourist in Paris. I own a Beauty Parlor and I am planning to eliminate the word "coiffeur" from some literature and even the name of my corporation. I always tip, everywhere I go. People are generous to me, and so I do when it comes to tips, so I don't think that is the problem. I am appalled, still in shock. Never again!

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