Kiwi tourists rank among the most tight-fisted

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Kiwi tourists rank among the most tight-fisted spenders in the second annual global Expedia Best Tourist Survey

Auckland, 09 July 2009 – The second annual global Best Tourist Survey, conducted by leading online travel company Expedia®, has ranked Kiwis as the sixth most stingy tourists among the 27 nationalities surveyed. However, Kiwis managed to fare better overall, ranking 14th as the world’s Best Tourists. They also performed well in the politeness stakes and for being sparing in their complaints (10th place and 9th place respectively).

Around 4,500 hoteliers across the globe provided their opinions on the best travellers overall, as well as on specific categories including behaviour, spending habits, fashion sense and willingness to try and speak the local language.

The Japanese retained the top prize, with hoteliers worldwide naming them the world’s best tourists. They ranked not only as the quietest and most polite, but also the cleanest and least likely to complain. The British again came in second place overall, followed by the Canadians.

The survey also revealed that the French hold the unenviable reputation for being the world’s worst tourists. According to hoteliers, as well as being the most frugal and meanest tippers, they can also lay claim to being the most impolite tourists.

Kiwis are considered more courteous with noise levels their Trans-Tasman counterparts, ranked 16th loudest as opposed to Australians, who were ranked 4th loudest. However, New Zealand travellers were seen as the less generous tippers and less likely to attempt the local language, coming in 19th and 14th place respectively, compared with Australians who came in 5th place for both categories.

Louise Crompton at Expedia New Zealand said, “It’s encouraging to see that New Zealanders are regarded as good-natured and polite among hoteliers around the world. That said, being more conscious of tipping etiquette and learning some words from the local language could see New Zealand even higher on the Expedia Best Tourist list next year,” Ms Crompton concluded.

Expedia.co.nz Top Tips for Kiwi tourists to lift our rankings in next year’s Expedia Best Tourist Survey:

• Wisen up: Be mindful of the local practices of the locations you are travelling in so you do not inadvertently cause insult or offence to the locals
• As a minimum, learn basic words from the local language such as how to say ‘hello’ and ‘good-bye’ and ‘please’ and ‘thank you’; the locals will appreciate the effort
• Be environmentally conscious: while you might be tempted to take a longer shower than usual when on holiday, be mindful of the local water supplies
• Get the latest gadgets: travelling with a digital translator or navigational device can make you a more sophisticated and streetwise tourist

The Best and the Worst in this year’s Expedia Best Tourist Survey:

• Worldwide, the Japanese, British, Canadians, Germans and Australians are considered the most polite nations.
• The top three loudest nations are the Americans, Italians and the Spanish
• After the Americans and the British, the next biggest tippers are the Germans and the Japanese
• After the Japanese, the Canadians, Swiss, Australians and Dutch were the other top five nationalities named as least likely to complain

Overall Ranking
1 Japanese
2 British
3 Canadians
4 Germans
5 Swiss
6= Dutch
6= Australians
8= Swedish
8= Americans
10= Danes
10= Norwegians
10= Finnish
10= Belgians
14= Austrian
14= New Zealanders
16 Thais
17= Portuguese
17= Czechs
19= Italians
19= Irish
19= Brazilians
22= Polish
22= South Africans
24= Turkish
24= Greeks
26 Spanish
27 French

ENDS