Australian tourists get thumbs up from hoteliers

Sydney, 24th June 2008 – Hoteliers across the globe have named Australians as among the world’s best tourists in the first annual global Best Tourist Survey conducted by Expedia, Inc., the world’s leading online travel company. Australians came in at sixth place overall among the 31 nationalities surveyed.

More than 4,000 hoteliers from across the globe provided opinions on the best overall travellers, as well as on 10 specific categories including popularity, behaviour, manners, willingness to learn the language and try local cuisine, generosity, tidiness, fashion sense and propensity to complain.

The Japanese won top prize, with hoteliers across the globe naming them as overall the world’s best tourists. German and British tourists shared second place, followed by the Canadians and the Swiss. The survey revealed that the Chinese, Indians and French are regarded as the world’s worst tourists.

Australians were singled out for their generosity and politeness – coming in at fourth place in both categories – as well as being among the least likely tourists to complain (in fifth place).

Arthur Hoffman, Managing Director of Expedia.com.au™, says: “It’s encouraging to see that Australians continue to be well received when travelling abroad. These accolades support the reputation that Australians are easy-going and good-spirited.”

“Hoteliers are experts when it comes to interacting with tourists, so we thought it would be fun to present some of their common perceptions regarding tourists from all around the world,” Hoffman added. “We hope these encouraging results inspire Australians to maintain their reputation for generosity and politeness, and perhaps up the efforts in trying new foods and improving their fashion sense so we can rank even better in next year’s survey,” he said.

Other notable findings in the survey include:

• The Japanese are the world’s most polite tourists, followed by the British and the Canadians; Americans are considered the least polite
• The most popular tourists in their own country are the Canadians, followed by the Dutch and the British
• The Germans are considered the tidiest tourists, ahead of the Japanese and the British
• French tourists are seen as the world’s stingiest tippers, followed by the Germans and the British
• The French, British and the Italians are considered the most fashion-forward, with the least stylishly-dressed tourists being the Americans, Chinese and the Russians

Top three tips for Australian tourists to lift our rankings in next year’s Expedia Best Tourist Survey:

• Try something different – make an effort to savour some of the local foods and culinary delights
• Clean up your act – Before checking out of your hotel, take a quick look around your room and pick up any garbage or used linen and towels from the floor
• Dress up a little – although you’re on holiday, do your best to show off some of our great fashion-forward Australian clothing designs

About the Expedia Best Tourist Survey – methodology

he survey was conducted during the period 18 – 27 March 2008. Approximately 32,000 hotel managers from Expedia partner hotels worldwide (primarily in Europe and the Americas) were randomly selected and contacted via email by the research company, TNS Infratest. A total of 4,004 interviews were completed, representing a return rate of approximately 12.5 %. Only countries with at least 50 interviews are shown. [Exceptions: Belgium (n=46), Croatia (n=47), Russia (n=43)].

About Expedia.com.au

Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE), the world’s leading online travel company, operates Expedia.com.au™ (www.expedia.com.au) in Australia and also has localised versions for travellers in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Ireland, Belgium, New Zealand, Japan, India and China, through its investment in eLong™. Expedia.com.au helps Australians plan and book their travel by providing a wide selection of holiday packages, flights, hotels, hire cars and attractions to suit their travel needs.

Expedia, Expedia.com and Expedia.com.au are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners.