It's true! One in Five Australians steal from hotels when travelling

Media Release
1 March 2012

- Survey finds 1 in 5 Australians steal from hotels

- Australians out-rank 4 other countries as the most budget-focused travellers

- 66 per cent stay connected on email and phones

- Australians on average have travelled to 6 countries.

Always suspected that your fellow Aussie is a scrooge when travelling? A LivingSocial survey finds one in five Australians admit to having stolen something from a hotel. Australians are also more budget-focused than our American, Canadian, Irish and British counterparts, with more of us looking for the cheapest food, hotel, and transportation when we travel.

The LivingSocial holiday survey was conducted online in February 2011 among 400 Australians and 5,200 additional respondents in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

The survey revealed, unsurprisingly, that towels are the most popular item stolen from hotels, while perhaps less subtle is walking out with the pillows (which 3 per cent admitted to) or, less obvious, the remote control (which 2 per cent admitted to).

The survey also debunks the myth that Australians are the most widely travelled tourists, with Irish travellers visiting nine countries, and English seven countries, compared with Australians, at just six countries.

Anu Mohan, LivingSocial Australia and New Zealand VP Marketing, says: “Australians are big travellers but we can’t claim to be the most active globetrotters. Despite this, we should be proud of our exploring ways; six countries are impressive, especially given we have to travel overseas to get to another country.”

The survey found that Australians can’t switch off when they travel, with 66 per cent admitting to checking their emails or phones whilst on holidays.

Statistics from the survey:

Sticky Fingers
22% of Australian travellers admitted to having stolen something from a hotel during a visit. The most common items poached were towels (admitted by 12% of respondents), bathrobes (admitted by 5%), batteries (3%), pillows (3%), sheets (3%) and remote controls (2%).

Tough to Cut the Cord
Two-thirds of respondents (66 per cent) said they check their e-mail or mobile phones while on holidays.

Holiday Horror Stories
Percentage of Australians who have experienced the following while travelling:

World’s Worst Tourists
Percentage of Australians who say the country with the worst tourists is:

Favourite Holiday Activities
Australian tourists’ favourite activities are:

Top 10 Dream Destinations
When given their choice of dozens of world wonders to visit, Australians picked their top 10 dream destinations as:

Australians out-rank 5 other countries as the most budget-focused travellers:

Australians on average have travelled to 6 countries:

The LivingSocial holiday survey is part of LivingSocial’s ongoing efforts to discover and share information about local social trends and behavior.

Methodology
The LivingSocial holiday survey was conducted online in February 2011 among 400 Australians and 5,200 additional respondents in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The survey was conducted by Mandala Research, LLC. Respondents were not limited to LivingSocial members.

FOR INTERVIEWS/ IMAGES & MORE INFO:

Corinne Roberts |The Ideas Suite| m 0422 228 082 | t (02) 9279 3330 |
e croberts@theideassuite.com.au

About LivingSocial & Jump On It
LivingSocial is the leading group buying company in Australia. It operates two daily deal sites – LivingSocial.com and JumpOnIt.com. Together they have over 2m+ email members, a 730,000+ strong Facebook community, and over 1 million web visitors per week. The daily deal sites provide members up to 90 per cent off the best handpicked experiences in their local communities. For businesses, they provide thousands of guaranteed new customers at no risk or upfront cost. LivingSocial Escapes and LivingSocial Families provide unforgettable travel and family experiences, respectively, at unbeatable value.