BELLEVUE, Wash. | Expedia®, the world's leading online travel company, today released the findings of a global survey seeking to crown the world's best tourists and measure travelers based on their best and worst travel traits and habits. More than 4,000 hoteliers from across the globe provided opinions on the best overall travelers, as well as 10 specific categories grading popularity, behavior, manners, willingness to learn the language and try local cuisine, generosity, tidiness, volume, fashion sense and propensity to complain. The Japanese won top prize and are considered by hoteliers across the globe as overall the best tourists. German and British tourists tied for second place, followed by the Canadians and Swiss. American tourists came in at number 11 overall.

American Tourists Score High and Low

Americans lead the way with putting effort into learning a few key sayings in the local language and sampling local delicacies. The French, Chinese and Japanese were the least likely to incorporate the local language, and the Chinese, Indians and Japanese have the least interest in the culinary styles of the places they visit. Americans are also considered the most generous, followed by the Canadians and Russians.

In contrast to American generosity and willingness to absorb local culture, they are considered to be noisy tourists, along with the Italians and British. Additionally, Americans are said to complain about accommodations, along with the Germans and French -- and are also among the least tidy hotel guests. Lastly, Americans fall to the bottom of the list when it comes to fashion sense, with the ever stylish Italians and French taking top sartorial prize.

"Hoteliers are the experts when it comes to interacting with tourists, so as the busy summer travel season approaches and vacationers prepare for their own travel experiences, we thought it would be fun to present some of their common perceptions regarding tourists from all around the world," said Karyn Thale, travel expert, Expedia.com®. "We hope the results inspire Americans to keep up their generosity and cultural curiosity and convince them to leave the white tennis shoes and fanny packs at home!"

Other Notable Findings

• The most popular tourists in their own country are the Canadians followed by Belgians and Swiss.
• French tourists are seen as the most "fiscally conservative," followed by the Dutch and the British.
• The Germans, just before the Japanese and British, are considered the tidiest tourists -- never leaving a mess.

Raising the American ProfileFor Americans planning to travel abroad this summer, below are a few tips to ensure they don't live up to any messy, noisy or complaining cliches in the eyes of their hotelier:

• Clean Up Your Act: Before checking out of your hotel, take a quick pass through the room to pick up any garbage or used linens from the floor.
• Turn the Volume Down: Just because you may be accustomed to blasting music at home or laughing like a hyena with your friends doesn't mean fellow hotel guests share that enthusiasm.
• Stay Calm: Always remember that quality standards vary from country to country, so don't be shocked if some experiences may be different than you pictured.

No matter where travelers are interested in going this year, Expedia can help them get there with its biggest sale of the year. More than 220 destinations in the U.S. and abroad are on sale -- with up to 30 percent off hotels, cruises, car rentals and activities -- and new deals added daily (http://www.expedia.com/summersale).