THE WORLD'S WORST TOURISTS

AMERICANS have been deemed as the world's most annoying tourists, and surprisingly or not, they themselves agree.

Sharing the same sentiments were the Canadians and Australians who also slammed the Americans for their lousy behaviour overseas.

While the Irish pointed the finger at their British neighbours for being the most intolerable, the UK travellers, on the other hand, thought the Germans were a pain in the neck.

The list, which also places the Indians, Chinese, Japanese and French tourists among the worst behaved - ranks travellers from 16 nationalities on the basis of their behaviour.

Of the 5,600 total respondents in survey carried out by Mandala Research for LivingSocial, a majority 4,000 were Americans. The rest were from Australia, Canada and Ireland.

Perhaps, one reason why the Americans were considered 'insufferable' is their lack of practice as tourists. The survey reported that Americans only get an average of 16 days of vacation each year.

In comparison, the Canadians get about 21 days off, the British get 23 days, the Australians get 27 days, and the Irish get a whopping 28 days off a year.

However, contrary to what is commonly perceived that 'only 15 per cent of Americans own passports', they seem to be globetrotting around enough for their vacation habits to be noticed.

The survey found that 78 per cent of Americans have visited at least one foreign country, 61 per cent have visited multiple countries, and 36 per cent have travelled to four or more foreign destinations. The average American has visited at least four countries," said Dave Madden, GM of LivingSocial Escapes (North America).

Far from perfect, four in 10 US travellers (39%) also admitted to having pilfered something from a hotel during a visit. The most common items smuggled into suitcases were towels, bathrobes, pillows and sheets. (asiaone)