8.6 million go it alone for holidays

Single sex holidays are on the rise, according to new research from Halifax Travel Insurance. In the last year, 8.6 million Brits have taken a single sex vacation. It seems that more and more, men and women are choosing to go on holiday with friends of the same sex. The research shows that 67 per cent of Brits are more likely to do this than they were five years ago. In the last 12 months, 26 per cent of men and 19 per cent of women have been on a single sex holiday.

There are many reasons why more Brits are choosing to go it alone. Some women admit to ‘feeling more comfortable sunbathing with female friends’ or state that: ‘I see my husband 51 weeks a year, sometimes it’s nice to have a break.’ Meanwhile men’s reasons include: ‘I don’t get along with my best mate’s girlfriend.’

Overall, Brits chose single sex holidays to catch up with friends (36 per cent) or because of stag and hen parties (25 per cent). Some 14 per cent went on a single sex holiday because friends of the opposite sex did not like that type of holiday, while 7 per cent went on single sex holidays to get away from work issues. Relationship issues also motivated people to choose same sex holidays, either to escape a partner (4 per cent) or to recover from a breakup (3 per cent). That said, there are still a million Brits who said they weren’t allowed to go on a single sex holiday.

Vicky Watson at Halifax Travel Insurance, said: ‘The rise of single sex holidays shows there is an increased appetite for holidaying with friends of the same sex.  This can be attributed to people feeling more comfortable when holidaying with friends of the same gender.  For example, many women feel more comfortable sunbathing surrounded by female rather than male friends.  While the rise in foreign stag parties helps account for the rise in all male holidays.  However, these holidays are not just taken by the 18-30 generation looking to party abroad; increasing numbers of older travellers are opting to holiday exclusively with friends of their own gender.’