A foreign tourist smokes from a water pipe in a coffee shop in Cairo February 23, 2009.

French tourists are the worst in the world, coming across as bad at foreign languages, tight-fisted and arrogant¹, according to a survey of 4,500 hotel owners across the world.

They finish in last place in the survey carried out for internet travel agency Expedia by polling² company TNS Infratest, which said French holidaymakers don't speak local languages and are seen as impolite.

"It's mainly the fact that they speak little or no English when they're abroad, and they don't speak much of the local language," Expedia Marketing³ Director Timothee de Roux told radio station France Info.

"The French don't go abroad very much. We're lucky enough to have a country which is magnificent in terms of its landscape and culture," he said, adding that 90 per cent of French people did their traveling at home. "

So when they're on holiday they can be a bit stressed, they're not used to things, and this can lead them to be demanding in a way which could be seen as a certain arrogance⁴."

French tourists are also accused of generally spending less than other nationalities when abroad.

De Roux said the French, not accustomed to leaving large tips at home where a service charge is automatically⁵ levied⁶ on restaurant bills, can seem "tight-fisted" compared with other nationalities.

The Japanese ranked top of the Best Tourist survey, with the British and the Germans judged the best of the Europeans.

But French tourists received some consolation⁷ for their poor performance, finishing third after the Italians and British for dress sense while on holiday.

根据一项对全世界4500家旅馆老板的调查，法国游客是世界上最糟糕的游客，他们外语讲得差，既小气又傲慢。

这项由市场调查公司TNS Infratest为在线旅行社Expedia所做的调查显示，法国游客排在最后一名，他们不讲本地语言，而且被认为不礼貌。

“这主要是因为法国人在国外几乎不说英语，而且他们也不太会本地语言，” Expedia的营销总监蒂莫西•德•路克斯在接受法国电台France Info采访时说。

他说：“法国人不经常出国。我们很幸运，他们的国家幅员辽阔、文化繁荣。” 他还说90%的法国人都选择在国内旅行。

“所以当他们在外度假的时候，会感到有些压抑，他们对周遭不大适应，这可能会让他们行为苛刻，并可能被视为傲慢。”

法国游客还被认为在国外总体上比其他国家的游客花钱更少。

德•路克斯说，法国人在国内时不习惯给高额小费，因为在法国服务费会被自动算在饭馆的帐单上，所以和其他国家的游客相比，法国游客看起来更吝啬。

在最佳游客调查中，日本人排在第一位，英国人和德国人被评为最好的欧洲游客。

尽管法国游客表现不佳，但是他们在度假期间穿着品位排行中名列第三，仅次于意大利和英国游客，这也算是一种安慰吧。

Vocabulary:

levy: 征收，征税