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Brits waste almost £100 million a year on forgotten holiday items

By kirsty tanner on April 27, 2016 in Culture

A new survey has revealed that British holidaymakers are wasting £96 million every year on replacing forgotten items.

More than half (61%) of Brits have forgotten something, such as their toothbrush or phone charger, when going on holiday, and 83% of those people will replace these items once they arrive, spending an average of £13.17 to do so.

Travel agency ebookers analysed data from the Office of National Statistics which shows that 14,427,000 British households holidayed abroad in 2015. When coupled with the agency’s survey data, this resulted in £96,198,816 figure.

Brits’ most forgotten items:

Choice

%
None / no items 39.4%
Toothbrush 24.7%
Sun tan lotion 16.6%
Phone charger 16.0%
First aid items / medication 14.1%
Glasses / sunglasses 14.1%
Camera or camera accessories 8.5%
Swimwear 6.9%
Other item(s) 6.8%
Coat / Warm clothes 6.7%
Food / Snacks 4.8%
Washbag 4.5%
Money 4.4%
Underwear 4.2%
Shoes 3.8%
Passport 3.4%
Mobile phone 3.0%

 

The survey of 2000 British holidaymakers also shows that despite spending a whole day longer than men to pack for their travels, women are 5% more likely to forget something.

The most forgotten item is the toothbrush, with 24.7% of travellers leaving it at home. 16.6% of Brits forget to pack sun tan lotion, and 16% forget to bring their phone charger.

It seems the 18-24 year olds are the worst for forgetting important holiday items, with 38% forgetting their toothbrush, 28% forgetting sun cream and 21% forgetting to take first aid items or medication.

When asked how much they typically spend in duty free, 16.2% of Brits said around £11-20. 49% of Brits go to the duty free just to buy alcohol. However, a shocking 30% said they avoid duty free all together.

The ebookers survey also found that men tend to spend the most money on holiday, with almost 23% taking over £500 in spending money for a week away. Those aged 18-24 take the least amount of money away with them, with 22.9% stating their spending budget is £100-200.

Laura Panico at ebookers commented “We all know how expensive it can be to book a holiday abroad, but we very rarely factor in money to replace our forgotten items. We would advise that people make sure to create a suitcase check list before they leave, and carry important items, such as passports, money and phone chargers, in their carry on.”

The survey asked respondents if they would consider travelling to a nudist resort, if it meant that their holiday would be cheaper. It seems men are happier than women to enjoy their travels naked, with a quarter of British men stating that they would take the offer.

This is great news for France, as its tourism officials have been targeting naturists Brits in a new campaign promoting naked getaways.

See also:

How to Get from Heathrow Airport to Central London

How to Get from Central London to Heathrow Airport

How to Get from Heathrow Airport to Gatwick Airport

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