Hotel Survey: American Tourists Loud and Complain Most, But Best Tippers

Sunday, July 12, 2009
Tourists II (sculpture by Duane Hanson, 1988, Saatchi Gallery)

Tourists from the United States have managed to expand the definition of “ugly American” in the latest Expedia survey ranking the worst travelers around the world. American tourists took top honors for being loudest, sloppiest, biggest complainers, and worst dressed. But U.S. travelers aren’t all bad, according to employees at 4,500 hotels worldwide, as they received top marks for being the biggest spenders and tippers. When it comes to willingness to try a new language, Americans also got high grades—unlike the French who are reluctant to speak the local dialect and come across as rude and cheap. For the third year in a row, Japanese travelers earned the title of best overall tourists, for their cleanliness, politeness, lack of noise and few complaints.

-Noel Brinkerhoff
 

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