80% of People Lose, Forget or Have Something Stolen When They go on Holiday
Summer is upon us and for many it’s the best time of the year – temperatures soar, the evenings are lighter, and across the nation spirits are high. Many people go on holiday during the summer months too, and there is nothing more exciting than counting down the days until you get to jet off for a relaxing and fun-filled trip away.
Everyone looks forward to going on holiday and it’s easy to start packing everything but the kitchen sink, but our new survey has found that many people actually come home with a lighter suitcase than the one they left with. 80% of people actually lose, forget or have something stolen when they go on holiday, and only 40% of people get their items back.
From the survey, we found that Spain was the destination in which holidaymakers most commonly lost their belongings, followed closely by those who enjoyed a ‘staycation’ in Britain. Sunglasses were the item most likely to be lost, stolen or forgotten, but cameras, clothing, and purses were also common items that disappeared while on holiday.
Going on holidays is a luxury for most people, and it’s not unusual to save up for months in order to afford the holiday of your dreams, so we were surprised to find out that nearly a fifth of people had lost something on holiday that was worth £100 or more. On average, people in the UK lose £55 worth of personal belongings per holiday, and as the average number of holidays taken per person each year is 3.2, each person loses an average of £176 worth of items each year. That’s a whopping £1,760 in a ten-year period, easily enough to cover another holiday or two.
Speaking of finances, we all know how important it is to get travel insurance when going away – you never know when you might fall ill, find your flight has been cancelled, or lose your luggage at the airport, so it’s always good to have a strong insurance policy to fall back on. Interestingly though, of those people who said they had lost, forgotten or had an item stolen while they were away, over half of them didn’t claim, even though they did have travel insurance.
When it comes to men and women, both seemed to lose a similar number of things on holiday, but what they lost was quite different. While women were most likely to lose their sunglasses and men were most likely to lose their camera, one of the more ‘revealing’ stats that came out of our data was that men were nearly twice as likely to lose their underwear on holiday than women – that means around 12 guys on the plane home with you may be going commando!
So how do regions in the UK differ when it comes to losing things on holiday? Residents of Scotland were more likely than anywhere else to lose jewellery on holiday, but not one Scot reported having lost their debit or credit card. Those living in the South West were more likely to lose their clothing than any other belongings when they were away, but were the least likely place to lose their sunglasses – quite the interesting outfit to come home in.
Losing things is never fun, so here are some tips to keep you and your belongings safe next time you go on holiday:
- Keep your small valuables close to you – the best way to do this is to use a money belt. They can be worn underneath clothing and will keep your money, cards, jewellery and other small valuables as close to you as possible at all times.
- Use the safe in your hotel – the majority of hotel rooms will have some form of locker or safe, and these are perfect for protecting larger items such as passports, mobile phones, cameras, and wallets. They are easy to use, just make sure you lock the safe using a code you can remember.
- Use safety straps to avoid dropping things – often items such as phones, cameras, and sunglasses get lost when they are dropped without the owner realising. Using a strap around your wrist for your camera and a lanyard or neck cord for your sunglasses should ensure your belongings never go far, even if you do drop them.
- Label some of your belongings – if you lose something, how is anyone going to get it back to you if they don’t know who or where you are? Label your luggage and larger electrical devices like cameras and laptops, and make sure you are traceable should someone find your mobile or bank cards.
- Do a thorough final check before you leave – especially if you are on a multi centre holiday and staying in a few different hotels. It’s so easy to leave something plugged into the wall or tucked inside a drawer, so before you leave your accommodation to come home, make sure you do a final sweep of your room and check you haven’t left anything behind.
With so many people losing things on holiday, and only half of them getting them back, it’s important to make sure that next time you go away you keep your valuables safe and don’t leave your personal belongings lost and living it up on holiday without you!
Now that you are ready and prepared for travel, book one of our multi centre journeys or a holiday tailor-made for you.
Why choose eShores?
One to One Service
Our experienced personal travel consultants will ensure you find the most suitable holiday, whilst taking care of every last detail. Everything from start to finish will be effortless.
100% Tailor Made
We can use any hotel, in any destination, so we will craft an itinerary to suit your exact needs. Also, as we can provide any itinerary, the only holiday we'll offer, is the one that's right for you.
Fully Protected
Our ATOL bonding provides you with the financial protection you need and as a member of the Travel Trust Association, you'll have 100% financial protection. Covering you for any eventuality.
Competitive Pricing
As a tour operator & travel agent, we'll search the market to ensure that we find you the best price. Also as an online business, we can ensure our prices are as competitive as possible.
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AlisonFletcher
Brilliant trip organised by Dave, included Helsinki, Tallin, Vilnius and Riga. (4 different countries) Everything ran smoothly. Dave organised hotels, flights, taxis, ferry and coach. Have used this company a few times and can't recommend highly enough they are fab 😀
Posted 2 days ago -
Sandra
As always, Chris was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. He gave me good advice on my travel plans and booked the holiday on my behalf. I've used eshores a number of times, and will continue to do so.
Posted 5 days ago -
Harrison
We haven’t been on our trip yet but based purely on the experience of booking the trip we are pleased with the result. It started with a bit of a hiccup as we spoke to a member of staff who never came back to us but when we reached back out again we were placed in the hands of Andy who has helped us book a 2 week trip to India including the golden triangle and then a few days on the beach. Andy was very patient with us with our changes to our tailor made holiday, even when we asked him to explore different areas only to revert back to the original plan. He also recommended moving the holiday back one week which created a saving of over £700 which meant we could upgrade the room for our beach stay in Goa. Andy was also available on weekends if we wanted to speak and regularly picked up the phone as opposed to keeping it to purely email dialogue. Hopefully the holiday will be amazing but based on the booking experience I would recommend eShores if you’re looking to book a tailor made holiday
Posted 5 days ago -
Wendy
I spoke to Lynette who was extremely helpful in understanding the trip that myself and my sister in law wanted from Thailand. Myself and my sister in law are both 72years young and we are really looking forward to our trip.
Posted 6 days ago -
Dawn
Excellent service from Matt at eShores. So very helpful and nothing was too much trouble. I booked Mya holiday after all his hard work finding me the perfect holiday that I wanted. Superb service and not pushy all all.
Posted 1 week ago -
Amrik
We have booked two big holidays this year for a group of 8 and a group of 10, Rachel has coordinated our holidays with the utmost excellence, during the consultation we changed countires hotels and even flights but it did not phase Rachel one bit. Exceeds customer expectations by helping advising and supporting throughout the holiday. We are off to Thailand and Dubai in August and then followed by India and Thailand in November, I have rang emailed Rachel many times during the booking and I got very prompt responses even on her days off. Rachel is a credit to EShores and EShores is setting standards regarding customer focus.
Posted 1 week ago -
IainWilliam
I can’t praise Lynette at EShores enough. She has organised my trips perfectly to the point that I wouldn’t use anyone else. She listens to what I want or to the problem I have and comes up with a solution. Nothing is too much trouble. Try them out yourselves and I bet you become a repeater too!
Posted 1 week ago -
Kevin
At short notice, I needed a quote to travel through the USA (July the 20th) I emailed eShores with an idea of what I wanted to do, within a short period of time I had a response from Matthew, After several amendments to my holiday which wasn't any trouble to Matthew, Holiday all booked, now looking forward to travelling through the USA Have to say, the service I had through eShores was fantastic, well done Matthew for working through the changes,
Posted 1 week ago -
Marcus
Dealt with Adam who was great, I went back and forth many times, nothing was a problem for him. We got there in the end and Adam arranged a 3 place holiday to Malaysia and Singapore. We go on 5th August, will if update review when we return. EShores so far brilliant hats of to Adam.
Posted 1 week ago -
Jill
We as a family used eShores last year to go to USA, and they were brilliant, my husband and 1 are going to Italy with them this September and we have just booked again to go back to USA with them next May, very efficient and Matt is lovely to deal with
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