Holidaymakers Bump into Familiar Face on Holiday

Posted by Sue Anderson, 13th Feb 2013

Our latest survey has revealed that around a quarter of holidaymakers have bumped into someone they know, by coincidence, when holidaying abroad in the past; with 'ex-colleagues' and 'family members' amongst the most likely groups of people holidaymakers are more likely to see.

The expression 'it's a small world' couldn't be more fitting, it seems, as we've found that a quarter of holidaymakers claims to have bumped into someone they knew on a previous holiday abroad.

We carried out a poll as part of ongoing research into the holiday experiences of people around the UK. 1,792 adults took part in the study, each of whom had been on holiday abroad in the past 5 years. Respondents were asked questions about who, if anyone, they had seen on previous holidays abroad outside of their actual holiday group.

18% admitted to bumping into an ex-partner



When asked 'On a previous holiday abroad, have you ever bumped into someone you knew unexpectedly?' 24% of those taking part said 'yes'. 11% of these said it had happened to them more than once. They were then asked what relationship they had with the person/people they had bumped into, to which the most common answers were as follows:

1. Ex-colleague - 27%

2. Friend - 24%

3. Relative - 21%

4. Ex-partner - 18%

5. Other - 10%

13% admitted to not approaching the person that they knew



Further to the respondents who said they'd bumped into someone they knew whilst on holiday in the past, 13% of those taking part admitted to seeing someone they knew, but not approaching them/choosing to avoid them whilst on a break abroad. When asked 'why', 31% said they didn't want to 'get stuck talking to them', but a fifth, 22%, had been worried about how they'd looked at the time.

Just a fifth said they had been happy about bumping into someone they knew



Of those who had bumped into someone they knew on holiday in the past, just 19% said they'd been happy about it happening.

Bumping into someone on holiday is always a nice surprise, unless it's someone that you really don't want to see! It's quite surprising to find out how many people bump into someone they know whilst on holiday, it really is quite a small world.
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