An online travel agency in the UK has completed a piece of research that shows whether people were more likely to gain or lose weight in certain holiday destinations. They surveyed more than 2,000 individuals and they found that the Dominican Republic, in the Caribbean and Marmaris, in Turkey, were the most likely destinations for weight gain. Meanwhile, New York was most likely to lead to weight loss.

A recent piece of research by a UK based online travel agency looked into which holidays were most likely to lead to weight gain, or weight loss. The research also looked at how trips affected the overall waistline, and what people’s eating habits were while on holiday.

Travel agent Sunshine.co.uk was behind the piece of research, which is part of a wider study into the holiday habits and experiences of the average British person. They questioned 2,328 individuals for this part of their study. All were from different parts of the country, over the age of 18 and had been on holiday in the past 12 months.

First, participants were asked to recall their weight when they went on holiday and their weight when they came back. They were then asked ‘Did your weight change during your last holiday abroad?2. A number of response options were then provided for people to choose from. 44% of participants stated that they had gained weight, while 26% said they had lost weight. Additionally, 28% said they could not recall whether or not there had been any change in their weight, and the other 2% said that there had been no change.

Those who said they had put weight on were asked how much they gained, which turned out to be an average of 9lbs. By contrast, those who lost weight said they lost an average of albs.

The survey then looked at the destinations of people who put weight on first, and it was found that the five worst culprits for weight gain were:
1. 15% had been to the Caribbean island of the Dominican Republic
2. 11% had been to Turkish resort Marmaris
3. 10% had been to the Mexican beach of Cancun
4. 8% had been to the Caribbean island of Jamaica
5. 6% had been to the Balearic Island of Majorca

Next, those who had lost weight were asked the same. Through their answers, the agency was able to determine which places were most likely to keep weight down, if not actually reduce it. The top 5 answers were:

1. 12% had been to the United States of America’s New York
2. 12% had been to the Indonesian island of Bali
3. 7% had been to the Thai island of Phuket
4. 7% had been to the Canary Island of Tenerife
5. 5% had been to Italian city Rome

63% of people did also admit that they would eat more during their holiday than they normally would, believing this to be the reason behind their weight gain.

According to Chris Clarkson, sunshine.co.uk’s managing director:
“If you’re on an all-inclusive break, it can be difficult to resist the abundance of food that’s so readily available. Add to that the drinks on tap and the constant lazing around on a sun lounger and you have yourself the perfect formula for weight gain! Those destinations that appeared in the top five places for weight gain are typical ‘all inclusive’ resorts. What we found more surprising was the weight loss destinations, with Rome and New York in particular renowned for calorific meals like pizza, pasta and deliciously calorific desserts. Perhaps it’s because of the active nature of city breaks and other types of holidays!”