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

　　French tourists are the worst in the world, coming across as bad at foreign languages, tight-fisted and arrogant, 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 polling 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 Marketing 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 arrogance."

　　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 automatically levied 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 consolation for their poor performance, finishing third after the Italians and British for dress sense while on holiday.

　　Vocabulary:

　　levy: 征收，征稅

　　根據(jù)一項(xiàng)對(duì)全世界4500家旅館老板的調(diào)查，法國(guó)游客是世界上最糟糕的游客，他們外語(yǔ)講得差，既小氣又傲慢。

　　這項(xiàng)由市場(chǎng)調(diào)查公司TNS Infratest為在線旅行社Expedia所做的調(diào)查顯示，法國(guó)游客排在最后一名，他們不講本地語(yǔ)言，而且被認(rèn)為不禮貌。

　　“這主要是因?yàn)榉▏?guó)人在國(guó)外幾乎不說(shuō)英語(yǔ)，而且他們也不太會(huì)本地語(yǔ)言，” Expedia的營(yíng)銷(xiāo)總監(jiān)蒂莫西•德•路克斯在接受法國(guó)電臺(tái)France Info采訪時(shí)說(shuō)。

　　他說(shuō)：“法國(guó)人不經(jīng)常出國(guó)。我們很幸運(yùn)，他們的幅員遼闊、文化繁榮。” 他還說(shuō)90%的法國(guó)人都選擇在國(guó)內(nèi)旅行。

　　“所以當(dāng)他們?cè)谕舛燃俚臅r(shí)候，會(huì)感到有些壓抑，他們對(duì)周遭不大適應(yīng)，這可能會(huì)讓他們行為苛刻，并可能被視為傲慢。”

　　法國(guó)游客還被認(rèn)為在國(guó)外總體上比其他的游客花錢(qián)更少。

　　德•路克斯說(shuō)，法國(guó)人在國(guó)內(nèi)時(shí)不習(xí)慣給高額小費(fèi)，因?yàn)樵诜▏?guó)服務(wù)費(fèi)會(huì)被自動(dòng)算在飯館的帳單上，所以和其他的游客相比，法國(guó)游客看起來(lái)更吝嗇。

　　在最佳游客調(diào)查中，日本人排在第一位，英國(guó)人和德國(guó)人被評(píng)為最好的歐洲游客。

　　盡管法國(guó)游客表現(xiàn)不佳，但是他們?cè)诙燃倨陂g穿著品位排行中名列第三，僅次于意大利和英國(guó)游客，這也算是一種安慰吧。