What is the first thing that you do when you have checked into your villa or hotel on holiday? For many, especially the kids, it is to take a joyful flying leap into the pool or to run full pelt into the sea. But just pause that vision of gleeful release for a moment, because a new report by the Safer Tourism Foundation (STF), a charity that aims to help protect UK travellers, has a few words of caution about what it calls “Holiday Head syndrome”.
Of course, we are bound to think and do things differently when we are enjoying ourselves – that is the whole point of taking a break. Most of us eat more, drink more, sleep more, spend more and, hopefully, worry a bit less. Our life loses its routine once we enter unfamiliar surroundings and are, with any luck, spending more time in the open air bathed in warm sunshine.
But, according to Katherine Atkinson, who has studied behavioural science and is the foundation’s chief executive, the mindset that we develop on holiday – the very thing which helps us have fun – also makes us more likely to take risks we wouldn’t dream of taking at home.
Several things happen in your holiday head, says Atkinson. You become more gung-ho and much more tempted to see the potential for fun rather than risk, and are more likely to overestimate your physical strength and ability. You are also more likely to try things you have never done before. The latest survey by the STF suggests that 76 per cent of travellers are more open to new experiences on holiday and to trying things they would not try at home.
The psychological explanation is not hard to understand, but it is easy to forget when you are travelling. Atkinson identifies three reasons for this. First is optimism bias – the tendency to believe that “it’ll never happen to me”, which seems to be enhanced by the positive mood boost that we tend to enjoy on holiday.
The second factor is peer pressure – the urge to take on challenges we would consider overly risky if it weren’t for our friends egging us on. Similarly, there are social and cultural influences – where we see other people doing things and tend to reassure ourselves that therefore it must be OK.
Lastly, we have to add emotion and wishful thinking to the mix – that feeling when we are on holiday that we want to do something and therefore we unconsciously play down the risks.
Near misses and disaster in open water
Thankfully, most of the time we tend to get away with it. The STF’s data suggests that only 0.38 per cent of holidaymakers report any kind of health and safety incident to their travel company. But, it says, that may nevertheless suggest a total of more than 200,000 each year.
The risk of drowning is an area of particular concern. Some 13 per cent of UK travellers have experienced a near miss in the water while on holiday (either for themselves or someone they were with). A recent spate of four British men – all between the ages of 56 and 76 – who have drowned in the last two months after getting into trouble in open water in Greece, Menorca, India and Mauritius is a tragic testament to the risks.
Of course, not all of us are the same. Some instinctively become more wary when travelling. But if your holiday head is of the less cautious variety, it may be worth pausing for thought.
How to handle holiday mindset
- The most dangerous times are the first and last day of a holiday, when we are either most prone to overestimating ourselves, or trying to squeeze in one last blast before we go home.
- Ask yourself: “Would I do this at home?” If the answer is no, at least take a moment to think again.
- Try not to be influenced by different safety cultures. Just because locals don’t wear crash helmets doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.
- Don’t be embarrassed when it comes to asking questions about safety provisions and checks. Activity organisers that take safety seriously will welcome your concern, while an evasive, dismissive or defensive response is obviously a bad sign.
- For more information, consult the Safer Tourism Foundation (safertourism.org.uk).