PRESS RELEASE: OnePoll

Written: Wednesday 11th November, 2009

BON ANNOYAGE

France was yesterday (Tues) voted the most unwelcoming country in Europe.

Our 'friends' across the channel were named and shamed as most the hostile natives on the continent in a poll of 3,000 British tourists. Germany emerged as the second most unfriendly country and Belgium was third.  Spain was fourth and Turkey was fifth. Three quarters of those polled said they had been subjected to rudeness in France while two thirds said they had experienced the same thing in Germany.

Holland was hailed as most welcoming European nation followed by Greece, Portugal and Italy.

Yesterday (Tues) a spokesman for www.OnePoll.com, which carried out the research, said: ''A surprising number of people have experienced rudeness from French people. ''But this could be for a number of reasons. The language barrier is still a major problem as the majority of people who travel to France can't speak the language. ''And our perception of the French not liking us very much is also bound to cause friction from time to time.

''On the upside Holland came out very well in the poll. Brits seems to appreciate the laid-back Dutch way of life.''

The study also revealed one in five Brits believe the French to be generally grumpy while 19 per cent levelled a similar accusation against the Germans.

One in ten said they thought the French didn't smile too often and a similar amount described the French as 'miserable'. A handful of people said they had been to France once but would not go again because they didn't like the attitude of the locals. One in five of those polled said they found the Spanish unwelcoming and the same percentage said they felt uncomfortable in Turkey.

Holland was the clear winner among the friendly countries, scoring almost twice as many votes as second-placed Greece.

TOP TEN MOST UNWELCOMING COUNTRIES
1. France
2. Germany
3. Belgium
4. Spain
5. Turkey
6. Russia
7. Cyprus
8. Czech Republic
9. Croatia
10. Romania

TOP TEN MOST WELCOMING COUNTRIES
1. Holland
2. Greece
3. Portugal
4. Italy
5. Sweden
6. Switzerland
7. Luxembourg
8. Austria
9. Norway
10. Finland

Research conducted by global market research company www.onepoll.com