French Still Rulers of Rudeness but China Placed Fifth in Skyscanner Poll

SINGAPORE, April 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

A poll conducted by international travel search site Skyscanner reveals the French have taken the title as the rudest nation in the world.  Taking 19% of the vote, the French have been known by many of their European neighbours for their abrupt and curt nature, especially when dealing with foreign tourists, which has often been taken as rudeness by visitors.

However, surprisingly China was ranked fifth in the poll, deemed ruder than Americans. With growing numbers of Chinese now travelling to Europe and the nations' tourists now among the biggest spenders in the UK, Brits are now rubbing shoulders with more Chinese than ever before.

Brits were voted third rudest nation, taking 10% of the vote. The accolade comes just months after Brits voted themselves the world's worst tourists.

Yi Bao, Skyscanner Market Manager for China, said: "Whilst China has been voted as the fifth rudest nation in this poll, I think it is more about cultural differences that are being misinterpreted rather than actual rude behaviour. 

"For instance Brits are stalwarts for queuing but this is not a common behaviour for Chinese people so could be interpreted as being rude if they do not adhere to this custom when holidaying in the UK.  With so many Chinese tourists now coming to the UK, there is more chance of Brits seeing this behaviour and interpreting it as rude."

At the other end of the scale, Brazilians, those from the Caribbean islands and Filipinos were voted least rude.

World's Rudest Nationalities:

1. French 19.2%

2. Russian 16.6%

3. British 10.4%

4. German 9.9%

5. Chinese 4.3%

6. American 3.3%

7. Spanish 3.1%

8. Italian 2.3%

9. Polish 2.2%

10. Turkish 2.1%

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