A third (31 percent) have fabricated a “fakeation” to appear more interesting, while a quarter does so to seem more worldly-wise at dinner parties.
20 percent have lied about holidays to impress a member of the opposite sex, while a quarter (24 percent) admit they feel judged by others on how much they travel.
A further 22 percent have posted a photograph on social media to imply they were abroad when they were actually in the UK.
And almost one in 10 (9 percent) have pretended they visited a foreign country, when in fact they had just watched a documentary about it.
Exaggerating about holiday experiences is also rife, as 17 percent regularly fib about having explored an area extensively when they never left the hotel.
More than one in 10 (13 percent) told people they had been on holiday to a country when they merely changed planes there and never left the airport.
The study of 2,000 UK holidaymakers, commissioned by Club Med, found that we were most likely to lie about our holidays to friends (40 percent), followed by colleagues (25 percent) and strangers (18 percent).
Of course, there are downsides to ‘fakeations’ – as 15 percent of the holiday-non-makers have been caught in a lie.
While 40 percent of them were able to laugh it off, 27 percent said it was hugely embarrassing, while the same number said they offended people with their tales.
When it comes to the most popular holiday deceptions, the study found ski-ing trips and capital city visits topped the list (five percent apiece). Also, on the list was backpacking holidays (four percent), and taking a gap year.
More than one in twenty (six percent) have claimed they can ride a horse and five percent have pretended they can ski to others who have been skiing.
Estelle Giraudeau, Managing Director of Club Med UK and Northern Europe comments: “This research proves how members of the public are willing to twist the truth when it comes to holidays. However, our guests can enjoy everything from reaching the summit in indoor climbing to taking in the breathtaking views of the snow-capped mountains with Nordic walking.”
Given the tissue of travelling lies, it’s no surprise that over half (56 percent) of us admit to being suspicious when we hear other people talk about their holidays.
And indeed, 39 percent of people say that they’ve caught someone in a lie about their holiday.
Younger travellers aged between 16 and 29 (60 percent) are much more likely to make up holidays than any other generations – and only 17 percent of over-60s say they’ve taken a ‘fakeation’.
And Londoners (53 percent) are much more likely to take ‘fakeations’ than any other city, almost twice as many as Cambridge (27 percent).
