The top reason for this is the way they speak – whether that be louder, slower or with a false accent – in the hope of being understood in their own language.
Research has revealed that one quarter of French residents find tourists to France to be ignorant and it’s most commonly surrounding the language barrier. Rather than learning a few words or phrases, tourists to France tend to speak louder, slower, with a fake French accent or with excessive hand gestures.
The team at Jetcost.com carried out the research as part of an ongoing study into the habits of tourists when visiting France. 2,397 French residents aged 18 and over, all of whom live within close proximity to key tourist attractions around France, were quizzed about their encounters with those visiting their country.
Initially all respondents were asked “How do you find the majority of tourists that you encounter in your area?”, to which the top response was found to be ‘polite and friendly’ (47%). A further 23% admitted that they found them to be ‘ignorant’ of the destination and the local culture.
In a bid to determine what it was about tourists that bothered them the most and what they considered to be ignorant, relevant respondents were asked to state what tourist traits they’d encountered that they found to be annoying, rude or disrespectful. When provided with a list of possible responses and told to select all those that applied, the top five most annoying tourist traits were found to be:
Speaking louder in their own language – 67%
Speaking slower in their own language – 55%
Not bothering to learn a few basic words/phrases in the local language – 54%
Adding a fake French accent to their own language – 41%
Using excessive hand gestures – 29%
Other annoying traits were found to be ‘dawdling and constantly being in the way’ (18%) and ‘being excessively drunk in public’ (7%).
When asked what nationalities they found to be the worst for being ignorant, the top nationalities were found to be ‘American’ (13%), ‘English’ (10%) and ‘German’ (8%).
Finally, all respondents were asked “Do you try to learn a few words or phrases in other languages when you holiday abroad?” to which 65% admitted that ‘yes’ they do. The top languages learnt were found to be ‘English’ (32%), ‘Spanish’ (10%) and ‘German’ (9%).
A spokesperson for Jetcost.com commented: “It’s not hard to learn a few basic words and phrases in the language of where you’re choosing to holiday; we’re happy to see that the majority of French residents attempt to learn a little themselves before they go abroad. Simple words such as ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ are quite easy to learn in other countries, and it’s something that’s regularly said to tourists when they’re visibly away from home. It’s just about showing a little respect and being mindful of where you’re going and the people you’re around – a little effort can go a long way.”
