We enjoyed the Best Tourist Survey conducted by expedia.com that compared the traits of different nationalities when they travel. From our experience, the results seem about right.
As over 70% of guests that use motel accommodation are Kiwis, it came as no surprise to moteliers that their fellow nationals can find it somewhat difficult to "appreciate value."
BEST TOURISTS
1. Japanese
2. Britons
3. Canadians
4. Germans
5. Swiss
WORST TOURISTS
1. French
2. Spaniards
3. Greeks
4. Turks
5. South Africans
MOST POLITE
The Japanese
MOST IMPOLITE
The French
MOST QUIET
The Japanese
MOST FRUGAL
The French
MOST CLEAN
The Japanese
MEANEST TIPPERS
The French
Kiwis 'stingy' tourists
By ADRIAN CHANG
BusinessDay
09/07/2009
Kiwi tourists may be polite and aren't moaners, but they do tend to keep their money in their pockets, according to an international tourism survey.
In its second annual global Best Tourist Survey, released today, the online travel company Expedia says New Zealanders make the sixth stingiest tourists out of 27 nationalities surveyed.
We ranked fourteenth equal with Austria in the best overall tourists category, which was topped by Japan. Brits came in second with Canadians third, Germans fourth, Swiss fifth and Australians and Dutch sixth equal. The French were rated the world's worst tourists, followed by the Spanish, Greeks, Turks and South Africans.
About 4,500 hoteliers around the world provided their view for Expedia's poll last month. Hoteliers were asked for their opinions on the best travellers overall, as well as on specific categories including behaviour, spending habits, fashion sense and willingness to try to speak the local language.
Kiwi tourists came in tenth for politeness and ninth in being sparing in their complaints. Kiwis were considered to be more courteous with noise levels than their trans-Tasman counterparts, but were seen as being significantly less generous tippers and much less likely to attempt the local language. Kiwis came in nineteenth in the generous tippers category and fourteenth in terms of being prepared to attempt the local language.
"It's encouraging to see that New Zealanders are regarded as good-natured and polite among hoteliers around the world," said Louise Crompton of Expedia New Zealand.
"That said, being more conscious of tipping etiquette and learning some words from the local language could see New Zealand even higher next year."
Crompton also suggested Kiwis abroad ought to be environmentally conscious, such as by not taking long showers, and travel with the latest gadgets such as digital translators or navigational devices.
Apart from being the world's best tourists overall, Japanese were also rated the quietest, the most polite, cleanest and least likely to complain. The French, meanwhile, were seen as the most frugal and meanest tippers, as well as being the rudest. Just ahead of the French were the Spanish, who were amongst the three loudest nations along with Americans and Italians.
Americans redeemed themselves by being the most generous tippers, along with the British. Americans came in eighth equal overall with Swedes.
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It is a known fact the same social behaviour gets a different rating amongst different culture. Here are a couple of examples:
A burp at the table will be rude to many ears - its absence will be an insult to your hosts in some of the Mediterranean countries.
The English Gentleman will always keep his emotions in control - even when declaring his flame to a Lady or when under the coup of a terrible anger. Did you know Latin people are extremely stressed when they can not read emotions on the face of their interlocutors? Most of them would file that under rudeness!
Shall the Lady of my previous example be Sicilian, the cliché would commend her to teach the Englishman some respect in the most violent way...
Globalisation is quite taxing in terms of tolerance to other cultures.
I am curious about to know which countries have contributed the most to the Expedia survey. Have the results been weighted to represent the small countries as well as the largest?
To conclude, I invite you to the reading of the interview of John Dow by IN Business magazine. You will find the article here: http://www.in-business.co.nz/wellington/return-mission/
The conclusion of the fourth paragraph may sound quite intriguing from a man who has spent a lot of time in Japan.
Greetings Herve!
Always a pleasure to host you ... I was wondering about your thoughts on this survey ;-)
Time Magazine also suspect a conspiracy theory:
"...this third annual bruising of French pride should be taken with a pinch of salt. There are several aspects of the survey that make its methodology suspect — and results significantly skewed.
The poll ranks 27 nations' travelers over nine behavioral categories. But it questioned just 4,500 respondents, all of whom work in hotels around the world.
That probably cuts out people who meet less-refined backpacking hostel denizens, campers and legions of Winnebago warriors.
Moreover, because the lingua franca of international hotel staffs is English, notoriously monolingual Americans, Brits and Australians probably rank higher than they should.
The French readily volunteer that their practice of foreign languages leaves much to be desired, but even the harshest Francophobe would mock the poll's finding that the average Yank tourist is the better polyglot. At least that's what French travelers might argue."
Kiwis on holiday NEVER want to pay. We are sick of being asked for a bloody room for under $100!!!!!!!!
I suspected you were expecting something from me on this one ;-)
I wouldn't lean in favour of a conspiracy. I try to never forget the saying "Never ascribe to malice what can be explained by incompetence".
At the same time, being in the era of social networks makes you wonder what is going to make a story successful: the naked truth or some kind of twisted propaganda engineered to stir the dormant complaints and angers?
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