T read a similar article a few days ago http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090709/lf_nm_life/us_france_tourists I can believe this. Even the response in the article comes off as arrogant Yeah... like the French are the most blessed country in the world- Canadians have a ton of diverse landscapes and cultures, and they aren't like this. I went to France a month ago- the Parisians were hardly cordial. While there were some helpful people of course, the majority were snooty, arrogant and unhelpful. A lot of them know English, but refuse to speak it. People say that Parisians are the unrepresentative, but I went to Cannes as well, and they didn't seem too nice either. I used to just kind of laugh at the hatred for the French, but this is what I told all my friends- the French are perhaps the first people in the world that I have met that practically every stereotype about them is true. Im not white, so its not like they were dismissing me as an American, either. For all the flack Americans get around the world, we really do try pretty hard to go with the flow when vacationing.
My foreign friends generally say people in America are the nicest hosts. They travel all over the world and they say only in America do strangers greet, say hello, ask how they are doing and start conversation. This rarely happens in Europe and Asia as people generally keep to themselves. As much as we like to think America has faults, it is one of the most welcoming places for outsiders.
I saw this article a couple of days ago and was hoping no one here would post it. Oh well. But, it does give me a chance to tell me French tourist story. I was in Pau (in the south of France) and visited the castle there. The castle was, most notably, a vacation home for Napoleon III. They had a bunch of furniture and other artifacts from him. I was in a guided tour with a couple of French families. At one point -- despite the velvet ropes and the interdiction signs -- the father in one of these families sits down in Napoleon III's chair. If it was one of their bratty kids, okay, but it was their father. The guide had to tell him it was an historical artifact and he can't sit there.
Actually in my experience the germans are the people i like best in Europe (and that is difficult to say for a dutchman). In general the French have a bad rep, And my experience with them did nothing to change that. It is just anoying that they do not even try to speak a other language. That being said the people from the french part of belgium is similar.
I'm surprised with the survey result. In my 2 backpacking experience, I've met 4 tourists from France and we spent some time traveling together. One I met in Montreal and the other three in China. None of them fit the description. They are polite, willing to share, and friendly. One of them even speaks good Chinese and locals appreciated that.
To clarify: I've been to France 4-5 times myself. Of course I met some nice people there, but the arrogant, abrasive reputation is pretty well deserved. I was asked to leave a store when I asked, IN FRENCH, "Pardon me sir, do you speak English?" He reminded me very much of John Cleese's French Taunter from Monty Python and the Holy Grail as he poo-pooed my buddy and I out of his store. Anyway, rude clerks, rude waiters, rude, rude, rude. And fine, it doesn't take a whole population to make a stereotype, but despite some nice folks, the French are a bunch of rude, arrogant, asshats, whose reputation is well-deserved.
I provided reasons why I think Americans should get that title in my post. Basically I argued that the French sample size is too small even for an estimate of them being bad tourists in general. I don't work in the hotel industry, but I have several friends and family in the airline, hotel, and restaurant industry (almost all overseas) who provide anecdotes. I myself travel abroad 2-3 times/year and use my own personal observations. Along with everyone else w/o a hotel background on this thread I gave my opinion. Didn't mean to offend.
You didn't offend but you did call out Americans and gave no supporting evidence except to say that there are probably a lot more American tourists. Also you just guessed that the sample size was small; you really have no idea of how many people of what nationalities was polled. That would be a good thing to discuss but I don't think we have a way of figuring that out. Anything else would be just speculation.
Am I the only person that read this thread title as "p***y French are world's worst tourists: study" ?
I've traveled a little bit around the world and yeah Japanese tourists are easily the most cordial and respectful. Americans and Canadians the most fun to hang out with. The nicest people I've met are easily Turkish and Balinese.
France didn't allow US planes to fly through their airspace when we were at war in the middle east, and we actually had to fly around their country. France can eat my poop.
No, you're not the only one. This touches on a topic which has always burned me up. Maybe it's just that France is now so *irrelevant* to the large stage of the rest of the world, and therefore people generally just disregard them... but it absolutely burns me up to hear people, *ESPECIALLY* foreigners, and especially European foreigners, talking smack about America and Americans, talking about how 'arrogant' and boorish we are.. and ridiculing our country over issues such as illegal immigration.. while all along there is this country smack dab in the middle of Europe that takes national pride in how offensively rude and arrogant they are, not just at home, but abroad. If you own a business, and want to do any sort of business with a French company, all contracts, paperwork, and anything else related to any of it must all be conducted in French. I mean, that's just typical. Never has a nation been so entirely full of **** while at the same time so completely convinced that their **** doesn't stink. Everything must always be done to accommodate them, never the other way around. And people like that have the audacity to criticize other countries.. amazing. Hehehe it reminds me of the Duke of Wellington scene from Blackadder, talking about piles of dead Frenchmen as a design motif for a cigarette case.. Or as an Englishman once said to me, 'The only thing wrong with FRONCE, is that it's filled with French people.'
Maybe in other parts of Europe but definately not Ireland. Ireland is probably the friendliest place I've ever been too and the Irish will just walk up to you and start talking to you on the street and in the Pub. The owner of a pub in Belfast even stopped me when I was walking by his pub and gave me a free pint. What was even more amaving was this was one of the Protestant neighborhoods in Belfast where some of the former Unionists, those who want Northern Ireland to remain in the UK, have become Neo-Nazis.
The results don't really surprise me....and I'm French. French people don't travel abroad a lot. And they have this idea that the way they are doing things is the one and only way to do. Actually, I came to find out that it's true for most people who haven't lived in a foreign country. Also, one of the reasons they don't speak the foreign language when they are abroad, is simply because they are scared to do so. It's considered appropriate in France to correct the other person's grammar if necessary. Thus a lot of French people are used to the idea of "you have to speak the language perfectly". And this is not possible when you want to speak a foreign language. Also, to reply to Samar, it is not customary to leave a tip in France. In restaurants and bars, the tip is already included in the meal or drink's price. You can leave 1 or 2 euros if you want to, and a lot of people do, but it's not necessary. It's been almost 6 yrs that I live here, and I did forgot a few times to tip, not because I was rude or the service was bad, simply because I forgot. Also, there's a HUGE difference between the people from Paris and the rest of the country. Anyway, I will just disregard some of the comments in this topic.
That was only for the bombing of Tripoli in the 80's in attack that wasn't supported by the UN. The French were part of the first Gulf War coalition and French forces are fighting in Afghanistan as part of NATO.
