Brits’ Travel Fibs Exposed

Name-dropping exotic countries they’ve never visited and citing sites they’ve never seen – the little white travel lies told by British holidaymakers are being exposed.  New research from easyCar.com reveals close to one in six (15 per cent) Brits have told fibs about their travel experiences to impress someone.

In fact just under half (45 per cent) of ‘countries visited’ are actually just airport stopovers, with men found guilty in particular (11 per cent) of embellishing their jet set lifestyles.  However, no longer satisfied with make believe, a staggering 87 per cent of Brits would prefer a holiday where they can get off the beaten track, and explore the world’s lesser known beauty spots.

And with more than two fifths (43 per cent) planning a road trip in the next 12 months, drivers believe this is the best way to discover those hidden gems.  More than one in 10 (12 per cent) believe a car is the most cost effective way to travel abroad with 62 per cent loving it for the freedom it affords.

The most popular destinations for a road trip include the USA (26 per cent), through the outback of Australia (10 per cent) and across Canada (six per cent). Although 50,000* young Brits wish to explore more exotic destinations such as India and Chile by car, the UK’s silver foxes would prefer to drive across their own home soil (over 300,000**).

With Olympic fever hitting our screens this summer, China is high on the list of road trip destinations with over 270,000*** British females wanting to discover the huge country by car.

Bill Jones, CEO of easyCar.com, said: “As it becomes simple to visit far flung destinations, people’s perceptions of a ‘well-travelled’ individual changes – and some holidaymakers feel the need to bend the truth. However the kudos now is to get off the beaten track and hit the road, especially visiting somewhere like the USA which has a vast array of landscapes and environments to explore.”

For the record, I’m not quite sure that I’d want to drive around China in a car.  It sounds a little bit risky to me.  And I don’t know what all this business about men more likely to lie about their holiday destinations than women are.  The real reason I wasn’t here a couple of weeks ago was because I was driving across the Sahara.  In a Ferrari.

* – All figures from YouGov.