Millions of British holidaymakers who book summer trips overseas have no idea where their holiday destination is located on the map, or where exactly they are going, according to new research by British Airways Holidays.
According to the research conducted on 2,000 people who travelled out of the country for their holiday last year, over a quarter of those who travelled to Spain do not know where it is on the map. Many survey respondents selected an assortment of other countries, but not Spain, with France being the most commonly chosen error.
Respondents also commonly chose France when asked to locate Germany and Greece, which 22 percent and 29 percent of them failed to place. The Netherlands was another destination that caused confusion, as 36 percent of people who holidayed there chose Denmark as its location.
Around 53 percent of the travellers who went to Cyprus chose mainland Greece when asked to pinpoint their destination. And, over 30 percent of adults who travelled to Portugal failed to place its location on the map, opting again for France. Brits are even perplexed with the position of Ireland; a disappointing 24 percent of those who visited the UK’s neighbouring country last year thought that they were in the UK or Spain instead.
‘This research shows people are going to all the effort of booking themselves a lovely holiday abroad, and yet so many have absolutely no idea of where they are actually going,’ said Claire Bentley, the spokeswoman for British Airways Holidays, which carried out the research by asking holidaymakers to pinpoint where they went on a map of Europe. ‘It is surprising to think that people are prepared to spend their hard earned wages on a holiday, without researching something as important as its location. We know that cost and temperature is often the most important factor for adults wanting to book a holiday, but 23 percent of our respondents admitted they would never think to look at where it is on the map before booking.’
