Friendship poll surprises Holiday Hypermarket
A poll on holiday friendship by Holiday Hypermarket found that only a very small number of its customers make friends with couples with children while away.
The survey of 3,345 British holidaymakers found that although 82.5% said they had made friends on their last holiday, only 3% had made friends with families with children.
"This was the most surprising figure for us," said marketing manager Ian Crawford.
"We expected to find that families are more open to socialising with one another, particularly as kids often play together no matter what nationality or background they come from.
"It suggests that families are more interested in spending quality time together on holiday than getting to know new people."
The survey also found:
– 13.8% of customers said they had no intentions of meeting new people while away
– 66.2% said they made friends with other British tourists, whereas 23% claimed to make friends with those working where they were staying
– Customers were least likely to socialise with European tourists and local people (at 17.2% and 17.8% respectively)
– 65.9% of holidaymakers made friends with people of the same or similar age
– 40.2% of friends who met on holiday added each other on social media and 34.4% exchanged email addresses
– While 31.5% of people have not spoken to the friends they made on holiday since returning home, a total of 46.5% still speak to their friends at least once a month.
These survey was carried out to coincide with International Friendship Day, which falls on July 30.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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