the Wedding Planner

UK Wedding News

02/09/2016

Britons 'Change Holiday Plans' Due To Zika

Just over a third of Britons have been prompted to change their holiday plans this year due to the threat from Zika virus, a new study has revealed.

The research, conducted by sunshine.co.uk, asked over 1,800 people who had either been on holiday this year, or were due to go on holiday this year, if news of the virus had affected their travel plans.

Participants were first asked, 'Did the news of the Zika virus cause you to change your 2016 holiday plans?'

34% said 'yes', with 16% admitting that they had booked a holiday to a destination where Zika had later been found. Subsequently, they chose to cancel their booking or change their holiday destination. Of those, 55% said they had incurred costs for doing so.

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However, 84% of respondents who changed their holiday plans as a result of the news had not yet committed to a booking. Of these people, 91% said they selected a different holiday destination, while 9% chose to not go abroad.

Those surveyed were then asked where they had originally planned to visit. The Dominican Republic topped the list with 14% of the vote. This was followed by Mexico (11%), Florida (10%), Cape Verde (8%) and Cuba (8%).

They were then asked to share where they had chosen to go on holiday instead. 32% of respondents chose mainland Spain, with 26% selecting Majorca. Greece was ranked third in the list (19%), followed by Italy (7%) and Cyprus (6%).

Interestingly, when asked about why they chose to change their plans, 51% admitted that they didn't fully understand the effects of the virus. Just 13% said it was because they were planning to start a family – or conceive again in the near future.

Commenting on the findings, Sue Anderson, sunshine.co.uk, said: "It's very clear that the Zika virus has clearly disrupted many people's travel plans.

"We think it's good to see that people are being so cautious, but judging by the number of people who don't fully understand the virus and its risks, more needs to be done to educate holidaymakers about it.

"Some people may be changing or cancelling travel plans unnecessarily, so it's worth looking into all the facts before making any decisions."

(JP/LM)

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"Just over a third of Britons have been prompted to change their holiday plans this year due to the threat from Zika virus, a new study has revealed."