Brits Abroad

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Friday 8th July 2011: New research out today reveals that unadventurous Brits refuse to eat local cuisine and rarely leave their holiday complex when going abroad(1).

The study by esure travel insurance polled 3,000 holidaymakers about their holidaying eating habits whilst abroad. The research reveals that despite jetting off to far-flung destinations, four in 10 people (40 per cent) admit they only travel abroad for the sunshine and not foreign cuisines.

It emerged that a third of those polled (34 per cent) prefer to stick to traditional English food such as fish and chips than try anything more exciting from local menus and nearly half of holidaymakers (47 per cent) would rather eat in well-known burger and fast-food restaurants than sample some of the more exotic delicacies.

More than a third of British holidaymakers surveyed admit they are simply too frightened to try a dish from a foreign menu in case they don’t like it. In fact, one in five holidaymakers (22 per cent) won’t enter restaurants that don’t have English speaking staff and the same percentage of people get irritated when they can’t understand what is written on the menu.

Incredibly, 36 per cent of British holidaymakers expect all foreign people to speak fluent English, and yet half would never consider trying to speak the local language themselves in an attempt to communicate.

Nikki Sellers, Head of Travel insurance at esure, said: “It is clear from these findings that although people are happy to travel to foreign countries for their annual holiday, they are less comfortable about experiencing the local culture once they are there. It seems people are worried about trying local foods in case they don’t like them and would rather stick to a Full English.”

The study shows just under half of holidaymakers try not to involve themselves in local activities when abroad, such as crab racing, belly dancing or singing – even if the entertainment is on site. Despite paying to go to another country, 15 per cent admit they typically avoid going on cultural sight-seeing trips.

While a further 46 per cent would only travel to well known tourist hot spots or go on organised excursions, rather than wander through local villages and provinces exploring the region for themselves.

Four in 10 people wouldn’t dare travel around on public transport – for fear of getting lost, not being able to work out what to do, or not knowing when to get off. In fact, a third of people admit they probably don’t travel much further than two miles away from their accommodation during their entire stay.

A fifth of Brits even fail to respect the importance of local traditions, and get annoyed if things like siestas impact on the amount of time they can spend shopping or swimming.

Nikki Sellers further commented: “There is a lot of pressure on British holidaymakers to go abroad and try out the local cuisines, participate in native sports and speak some phrases in a foreign language for the country they’re visiting – but as our research shows most British holidaymakers would rather stick to what they know best.

“The language barriers may make it difficult to communicate should anything unfortunate happen - so for peace of mind, it’s vital for holidaymakers to make sure they’ve got travel insurance and double check what they are covered for, as while you can’t plan for every eventuality, you can make sure you have done everything you can before leaving the UK.”

Incredibly, 15 per cent of holidaymakers admit to booking exactly the same holiday year on year and the same percentage of people always tries to choose holidays where they can guarantee there will be lots of other British people.

A third of holidaymakers try to keep up with English television when abroad, and one in 10 would complain to hotel staff if they discovered it wasn’t available.

The research also shows that 16 per cent always take their favourite foods away with them in the suitcase, and 14 per cent eat in the same place every night of the holiday.


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esure’s press contacts:
Asia Yasir, Public Relations Officer: 01737 641305
Adrian Webb, Head of Corporate Communications: 01737 641000

Email:
pr@esure.com
Visit the media centre: www.esure.com
An ISDN line is available for radio interviews.

Notes to Editors: (1) SWNS conducted an online research survey via Onepoll which interviewed a random sample of 3,000 holidaymakers aged 18 and over between 6th – 11th June 2011.