A poll by the UK’s fastest growing online independent travel agent has revealed that a third of UK holidaymakers haven’t visited a destination outside of Europe in their holiday history, with the majority blaming the ‘familiarity’ of European countries for not wanting to be more adventurous with their travel.

Latest research by one of the UK’s leading online independent travel agents has revealed that a third of UK holidaymakers haven’t visited a country outside of Europe for a vacation in their entire holiday past. When asked why this was the case, the majority said they had become familiar with holiday resorts in Europe and as such hadn’t tried anywhere else.

The poll was carried out by sunshine.co.uk as part of research into the holiday habits of Britons. 1,110 British holidaymakers subsequently took part and respondents were required to answer questions surrounding their previous holidays and where they had spent them.

When asked, ‘Have you ever visited a country outside of Europe for a holiday?’ more than a third, 34%, answered ‘no’. These people were then asked to explain why this was the case, to which the majority, 41%, said it was the familiarity of European countries that made them not want to visit other countries and resorts.

Whilst familiarity was the biggest reason, 22% also felt that it was ‘cheaper’ to holiday in Europe, which isn’t always the case. 13% claimed to have only been on European holidays to ‘keep flight times short’ and 6% put it down to coincidence.

On the contrary, one in ten, 11% of respondents, said they had never visited a country in Europe for a holiday. When asked why, 32% felt it was cheaper to go on holiday outside of Europe, whilst a quarter, 24%, put it down to familiarity and claimed it was because they had got used to going on holiday elsewhere. 4% said that they didn’t see the point in going on holiday unless it was somewhere that involved a long haul flight.

The poll also found that 7% ‘weren’t sure’ if they had been outside of Europe for a holiday, suggesting a lack of geographical knowledge amongst some respondents. Of those who were yet to go outside of Europe for a holiday, more than three quarters, 78%, said they would very much like to.

Chris Brown, co-founder of sunshine.co.uk, commented on the findings: “I think when many people imagine a holiday, they immediately think of destinations like France, Spain and Portugal and stick to European places. However, people shouldn’t be afraid to look a little further afield for a holiday and, contrary to popular belief; there are some fantastic bargains to be had on holidays outside of Europe.

“Once you’ve been somewhere and enjoyed it, it seems a shame to keep returning to that place year on year and missing out on what could potentially be an unforgettable holiday elsewhere. As they say, variety is the spice of life, so we’d always recommend mixing up your chosen holiday destinations.”