Poolside Pet Peeves: 64% of Brits hate when holidaymakers do this

New research, by online retailer Northerner, has revealed urinating in the pool as the biggest annoyance for poolside Brits this summer, with two thirds agreeing this is holidaymakers’ most annoying habit. Brits don’t have much patience for children either, as half of those surveyed, (53%), said they don’t have time for uncontrollable children, and 51% prefer the poolside to be a calming and quiet environment. With Brits preferring a relaxing holiday, it’s no surprise that over a third get annoyed by the tedious act of having to get up early to save sun loungers with their towels.

With different laws around vaping and smoking in different destinations, UK holiday goers are also still put off by smoking and vaping by the pool, as well as drinking excessively, or sunbathing topless.

The top ten biggest poolside annoyances for Brits are:

1. Having a wee in the pool - 64%

2. Not controlling the kids - 53%

3. Shouting - 51%

4. Playing music - 49%

5. Smoking - 46%

6. Excessive drinking - 45%

7. Eating food in the pool - 45%

8. Saving sun lounges with towels - 36%

9. Vaping - 33%

10. Sunbathing topless - 27%

Breaking down the data by age, Boomers have the least patience with boozy brits and chaotic little ones, as a huge 76% admit to leaving the area if children are not being controlled, and 70% turn their nose up to anyone excessively drinking by the poolside. Whilst Boomers might seem the most judgemental, surprisingly, sunbathing topless isn’t an issue for them, with two thirds happily accepting this around the pool.

Could Millennials and Gen Z be the culprit for the annoying sunbed saving? 80% of them admitted to not being bothered by this, in comparison to one in two Boomers who find it to be one of the biggest bugbears when visiting their favourite holiday destinations.

Markus Lindblad from Northerner, said “With plenty of Brits flocking to their favourite holiday destinations this summer, we conducted the research to find out the biggest poolside annoyances. It’s been interesting to see that smoking is still one of the main annoyances for Brits abroad, especially as many holiday destinations have different laws prohibiting smoking in certain areas. This can easily be solved by educating holidaymakers and the other alternatives that they can take abroad, such as tobacco free snus or gum.”