It has been found by a UK based online travel agency that there are certain things that really annoy holiday makers, particularly during couples’ holidays. Trying to, and failing to, speak a native language was one of these annoyance, particularly if people were over the top about it. Women in particular found this very annoying. Men were mainly irritated by exhibitionism and by finding their partners to strict in terms of how they could and couldn’t spend their holiday money.

An online UK travel agency has recently performed a piece of research to determine what UK holiday makers were most annoyed with when they were on holiday. Men and women alike were annoyed by their partners “being an embarrassing drunk”. However, there were other things that annoyed people about their partners as well.

The poll is a part of the Sunshine.co.uk study that aims to find out what people’s habits and preferences are when they are on holiday. Some 1,578 people, divided equally between men and women, from all over the United Kingdom were surveyed. Each of these were over the age of 18, in a current relationship and had vacationed with their current partner in the past 12 months.

The first element of the survey was to determine whether their partner actually engaged in any type of behaviour that caused them some sort of annoyance while being on holiday. A whopping 75% answered yes to this particular question. Those who did answer positively would then be asked what type of behaviour annoyed them. There were marked differences between the answers of men and women, however.

Men’s Top 5 Peeves

1. Going topless while sunbathing was mentioned in 67% of all cases.
2. Being too strict, or overly frugal, when it comes to how the holiday budget was spent was mentioned in 51% of all cases.
3. Taking too much time in order to get ready was mentioned in 46% of all cases.
4. Spending too long working on a suntan was mentioned in 32% of cases.
5. Being embarrassing while drunk was mentioned in 21% of cases.

Women’s Top 5 Peeves

1. Trying, and failing, to speak the native language was mentioned in 47% of cases.
2. Being embarrassing while drunk was mentioned in 38% of cases.
3. Ogling other women was mentioned in 32% of cases.
4. Making a mess in the accommodation was mentioned in 27% of cases.
5. Sweating excessively was mentioned in 16% of cases.

Respondents were also asked whether they had confronted their partner. This received a 46% yes vote. Of these, 77% also said that this then led to an argument. At the same time, however, 71% of all respondents said that they felt happier with their partner while on holiday.

“I suppose for some people it can be a bit of a shock going from only spending evenings and weekends with your partner, due to busy work schedules, to spending 24/7 with them on holiday”, says Chris Clarkson, Sunshine‘s Managing Director. “This extra time together and the relaxed holiday environment often bring things to the fore which you hadn’t noticed about your partner previously, or which seem to irritate you.

“Our advice would be to just kick back and enjoy your holiday and the time you have to spend together. So what if your other half is having a go at speaking the language? Good on them! If there are certain behaviours that start to bug you, like them checking out other people, just let them know how you feel to try and nip it in the bud.”