讨人厌的游客 The Ugly Tourist

http://www.sina.com.cn 2004/05/14 19:14  视听英语Ladder AI杂志

Here’s an award that most counties would rather avoid: the world’s worst tourists. According to a survey by an online travel agency, people from Britain are the most unpopular tourists worldwide, closely followed by citizens of Ireland and Israel. The survey asked travel offices around the world to rank 24 countries on the basis of behavior, politeness, tipping and spending, and willingness to learn the language and try local foods.

The country with the most popular tourists was Germany, followed by the United States, Japan and Italy. Germans were also ranked as the best behaved while British, Irish and Danish travelers were considered the worst

“A little effort goes a long way in a foreign country,”said the study’s director.“As much as it pains me to say it, perhaps the Germans actually deserve to get the best service.”

The United States topped the list of the biggest tippers and spenders, followed by Japan and Russia. Despite their overall high ranking, German travelers were considered to be bad tippers and, interestingly, Germans were to be rude hosts to foreign travelers in Germany.

Perhaps not surprisingly, British, Indian and American tourists were the least likely to sample local cuisine, as opposed to the Italians, Spaniards and Germans, who were the most adventurous when it comes to trying different foods.

Germans also made the greatest effort to learn the local language followed by the French and (surprisingly) the Americans, while the British once again landed at the bottom of the list.

Despite their low ranking, some British travelers insist while they might not be the most popular, they are the most fun.

“when it comes to other things like doing the Conga at two in the morning, the British are champions of the world,”said the producer of a British travel show.