How the middle-aged are looking for sun, sea and sex on holiday
THEY may claim to be expanding their cultural horizons – but it seems middle-aged Britons have something else on their minds when taking a foreign holiday.
The growing army of older sun-seekers seem to view trips abroad as a chance to improve their love lives, experts have discovered.
The study, led by academics at University College London, suggests that enjoying sun, sea and sex on holiday is not just for 20-somethings.
One in 20 men and one in 40 women aged 35 to 74 met a new sexual partner while overseas in the past five years, according to interviews with 15,000 people.
The authors, writing in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections, said: ‘ These proportions are likely to increase as older people maintain good health, have the financial means to travel and are now more likely to experience partnership breakdown, and so older age groups should also be considered for health promotion messages by health professionals when consulting for travel advice.’
The research team – including experts from Glasgow University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine – found one in ten men and one in 20 women of all ages have had a sexual relationship with a new partner while travelling overseas, based on the British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles.
More than 12,500 of the 16- to 74-year- olds polled said they had at least one sexual partner within the past five years. Of these, 9.2 per cent of men and 5.3 per cent of women reported new sexual partners while overseas.
The authors found those who reported new partners while abroad were also more likely to engage in ‘sexually risky’ behaviour such as unprotected sex.
A study by the University of Illinois last year found single women were much more likely to take sexual risks on holiday, with alcohol giving them Dutch courage and a psychological excuse to transcend their ‘usual sexual boundaries’. Wearing revealing clothing and visiting holiday spots with ‘permissive, party-oriented social atmospheres’ promotes an altered sense of reality that makes women feel less inhibited, the academics said.