Are Russians the worst tourists ?

A SURVEY OF holidaymakers that booked package holidays in Cyprus, Spain and Greece has bestowed the dubious honour of world’s worst tourists on the people of Russia.

A SURVEY OF holidaymakers that booked package holidays in Cyprus, Spain and Greece has bestowed the dubious honour of world’s worst tourists on the people of Russia.

The surprise result has knocked the Germans from the top spot, ending their reign as undisputed champions of holiday rudeness.

The Real Holiday Reports website, asked more than one thousand tourists who went abroad this summer โ€˜Who do you not get on with on holiday?โ€™

According to the results, Russians hog sun-loungers, eat “almost everything” at all-inclusive hotel buffets, burp, swear and have terrible dress sense.

Real Holiday director Gary Hewitt, who conducted the survey, told the Cyprus Mail, that the poll results had not been well received in Russia.

โ€œIโ€™ve been getting a certain amount of abuse in the forums and on the phone, I think the Russian press have latched onto this story and they donโ€™t like it,โ€ he said.

Hewitt explained that various factors helped Russia take the holiday nightmare crown.

โ€œMost of the complaints about Russians are that they are rude and arrogant, the men are in their 50s have teenage wives.

โ€œThere was even one report that a Russian family moved the sun beds and parasols from the swimming pool into to their room every night, so they didโ€™nt miss out on a space the next morning,โ€ he said.

In contrast, a similar survey published last month by Expedia suggested that the British were the worst behaved, and the French were seen as the meanest tippers and the rudest in Europe.

The French were also voted the worst tourists internationally, accused of being bad at foreign languages, tight-fisted and arrogant.

The news could prompt a thaw in Anglo-German vacation relations, with the beach-towel guerrilla warfare in European resort pools prompting one man to smear German sun beds with honey last season on the Costa del Sol, attracting wasps and other insects.

Last month Thomas Cook started giving Germans the opportunity to reserve their sun beds ahead of travelling for a small fee.

For Cyprus, the boost in Russian tourism has been welcomed by all sectors.

Around 110,000 tourists from Russia visited the island last year, with arrivals seeing a marked an increase of 31% in the first two months this year.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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