Ever sunbathed topless? How about totally nude? Expedia conducted an opinion poll across 21 countries to gather information on people’s holiday habits, and managed to slip in some cheeky questions on how much clothing people were willing to do without at the beach.
A total of 8,301 people responded, with over 300 per country. The countries surveyed were the US, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, India, Korea, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Holland, and New Zealand.
According to the results, Germans are the most likely to chill out at the beach in their birthday suit, with 17% indulging in a bit of nude sunbathing. Japan seems positively prudish at 5%, but they’re actually more likely to get their kit off than any of the other Asian countries surveyed. On the other hand, perhaps people from Asian countries are just more sensible; no clothes plus lots of sand usually equals a rather uncomfortable experience!
If it’s just going topless, then 40% of Danes enjoy having a bit of a breeze on their top half, while Malaysians like to keep their assets covered with a grand total of 0%.
However, when asked what they liked to spend their time doing when not at the beach, the most likely nation to choose “getting cosy with my significant other” was Malaysia, followed by Brazil, Holland, Korea, Mexico, and India. Japan came bottom; if you’re thinking of whisking your Japanese lover away for a romantic beach getaway, it might not be quite the right location to put them in the mood!
Malaysia also scored highest for respondents who wanted to “get cosy with someone I met on holiday”. So Malaysians may not be comfortable with showing their skin in public, but it seems like they’re pretty forward in a one-on-one situation!
You might think splashing about in the sea is a standard beach activity, but only 45% of Japanese people surveyed said they enjoy “going in the sea” when at the beach, the lowest of all countries. Japan also comes bottom for other popular beach activities such as “going for a walk” and “people watching”!
So can anyone tell me what Japanese people actually do at the beach? Sleep?!
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