Worst tourists? Americans in middle of pack

WASHINGTON - Tourists from around the world were recently pitted against each other in a poll conducted by Expedia. And guess what? Americans actually scored better than some stereotypes might suggest.

More than 4,000 hoteliers across the globe participated in the poll which graded travelers on specific categories, including behavior, manners and their willingness to learn the language and try local cuisine.

Americans ranked 11th among the 21 nations surveyed.

Japan wins the gold medal as being the best tourists overall. Germans and the British tied for second, followed by the Canadians and Swiss. The French ranked 19th for their unwillingness to splurge and their lack of interest in using the local language. The Chinese ranked last.

And while Americans ended up in the middle of the pack, there were some positive findings: Americans put more effort into learning local phrases and are considered the most generous along with the Canadians and Russians.

"Hoteliers are the experts when it comes to interacting with tourists, so as the busy summer travel season approaches and vacationers prepare for their own travel experiences, we thought it would be fun to present their common perceptions regarding tourists from all around the world," says Karyn Thale, travel expert at Expedia.com.

Thale hopes only good things come from the survey.

"We hope the results inspire Americans to keep up their generosity and cultural curiosity and convince them to leave the white tennis shoes and fanny packs at home."

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