World's Worst Tourists

Bangalore: Americans themselves are of the opinion that they are the world’s worst tourists. A new LivingSocial survey conducted by Mandala Research among more than 5,600 respondents in five countries discovered that Americans think they are the worst tourists. The survey revealed that Americans, Canadians and Australians all gave U.S. tourists that doubtful distinction, while the Irish identified their British neighbors as the worst, and the British called out the Germans for bad travel behavior.

Americans voted themselves as the worst tourists with 20 percent of votes. They were followed by China with 15 percent, France on position three with 14 percent. Japan and Russia were on position four and five with 12 and 11 percent respectively. They were followed by Korea and India with 9 percent each. Germany, Spain, Britain and Canada followed India with 5 percent votes each, while Italy and Netherland had 4 and 3 percent each. Ireland, Switzerland and Australia had a 2 percent votes each on the world’s worst tourist list.

The survey also found that 78 percent of Americans have visited at least one foreign country while 61 percent have visited multiple countries and 36 percent have traveled to four or more foreign destinations. Thus, average number of countries visited was more than four.

Americans also admit to having sticky fingers. Four in ten U.S. travelers (39 percent) admit to having stolen something from a hotel during a visit. The most common items pilfered were towels, bathrobes, batteries, pillows, remote controls, sheets, bibles, and umbrellas.