Japanese top good tourists' league

LONDON The best tourists in the world are the Japanese, followed by Americans and the Swiss, a survey based on views from hoteliers across Europe said on Wednesday.

Japanese tourists stood out for being polite and tidy, securing 35 percent more votes than the Americans who came second.

Swiss tourists were commended for being quiet and considerate, unlike the Britons who were judged to be the fifth worst tourists because of rude behaviour, noise and a miserly attitude to tipping.

But despite their faults, hoteliers do look favourably upon British spending habits voting them the third biggest holiday spenders after Americans and Russians.

Based on responses from 15,000 European hoteliers, the survey carried out on behalf of travel Web site Expedia showed that the worst tourist nation was France, followed by India, China and Russia.

Britain was second in the worst-dressed tourist table which was headed by the Americans, and fifth in the least-generous table which was headed by the Germans.