You might think a holiday is the perfect chance to break away from the humdrum routine of everyday life and enjoy a change of scenery. But it seems many of us Brits are stuck in our ways when it comes to our annual holiday with around eight out 10 (80 per cent) saying they are likely to return to the same summer destination more than once.
Cheapflights Holiday Habits Survey found us Brits don’t like to stray too far from tried and tested activities when we reach our “déjà vu destinations”. Around four in 10 choose the same resort (39 per cent) and restaurant (39 per cent) while over three in 10 (32 per cent) go to the same attractions.
Chartered psychologist Dr Jane McCartney says it’s not unnatural to want to know what we are doing, when we are doing it, and who we are doing it with.
“Most of us are creatures of habit,” she says.
A number of people seem to want to recreate a previous holiday experience down to the smallest detail – 20 per cent eat the same meal, 14 per cent talk to the same waiter; 13 per cent take the same pictures and 8 per cent even opted for the same room.
So why do we do it? Prices and great weather were the second and third top reasons for getting into a regular ‘holiday habit’, but the most common reason was simply that it was ‘just the best holiday I’ve ever found’.
Brits named the UK (24 per cent), United States (17 per cent), Spain (14 per cent), France (8 per cent) and Italy (5 per cent) as the top five ‘déjà vu destinations’ for summer holidays. Other popular repeat holiday destinations were Greece (4 per cent), Cyprus (3 per cent), Turkey (3 per cent), Portugal (3 per cent) – and India (2 per cent).
Dr McCartney says choosing a new destination is a way of stepping outside our normal patterns of behaviour.
“If you want to break out of a rut, use your imagination to its absolute limits. Researching and booking a new type of holiday destination is really good way of keeping yourself stimulated, interested and energised,” she said.
So what would it take for us to break these holiday habits? Britons named Australia (19 per cent), New York (12 per cent), Hawaii (11 per cent), the Maldives (10 per cent) and California (6 per cent) as the top ‘new’ destinations which would convince them to break with tradition.
Main image of the Lake District by Alan Cleaver
