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Post holiday blues hit before the plane lands

30th June 2009 Print
Research released today from Virgin Holidays has found that almost a fifth (18%) of UK holidaymakers start suffering the symptoms of post holiday blues before they even board their return flight, with the exact time it takes for symptoms to start a mere 6.21 hours after landing – just enough time to collect your bags, get home and stick the kettle on!

Although the research, which polled more than 4,500 British holidaymakers, established it doesn’t take long for people to lose that holiday feeling, it also uncovered that many find it easy to bring it back with three quarters (75%) of people seeking out smells which remind them of their holiday destination to help battle the back to work blues.

With this in mind and to help their customers keep the holiday feeling for longer, Virgin Holidays has developed an exclusive range of room sprays based on popular holiday destinations from across the world. The ‘Ask for the World Aromas’ series adopts scents from the Middle East, Africa, America, Asia and Europe and are based on feedback from Virgin Holiday customers about which smells and aromas they most remember from their trips.

So from flip flops to freshly cut grass and rum to rubber – the scents are sure to stimulate your senses and bring those holiday memories flooding back. Exclusively available through the Virgin Holidays website, virginholidays.co.uk, customers can get their hands on far-flung fragrances such as Slum Dog No.5 or Cologne de Kasbah until 19th July.

Virgin Holiday customers will also be able to get their hands on their favourite Ask for the World Aroma if they’re travelling through Gatwick Airport this summer, as a limited amount will be made available in the V ROOM, the world's first and only airport lounge dedicated to people going on holiday.

But if you don’t fancy spraying some holiday into your home, there are a couple of other tricks you can try to keep the holiday feeling alive:

Book another holiday! - over a quarter (29%) of Brits will book another holiday to prolong the holiday feeling

Wear your bikini to work - even though only 2% of the population admit to wearing their bikini to work – that’s more than 97,000 people hiding their skimpies under their suits!

Turn to fake tan – a quarter (25%) of holidaymakers in Northern Ireland admit that bottled suntans do the job in keeping their holiday feeling long after they’re back at work

Wear some white – one in six admit (15%) that wearing white shows of their sun kissed skin and makes it easier to deal with being back in Blighty

Hit the beach - almost half of you (48%) think that beach holidays are the best type of holiday for maximising the holiday feeling once you’ve returned to Britain

Psychologist Anjula Mutanda, comments: “People make a real effort to relax on holiday. But with so many day-to-day stresses to come back to, it`s no wonder that the holiday blues set in so quickly. What’s vital is that people devise their own tricks to maintaining that special holiday feeling: as it will prolong the more positive and optimistic outlook, when they do return to work.

“What is interesting about the research is that it revealed the importance of smells- and the memories that they can trigger. Holidaymakers realised that scent was a key factor in recreating memories of more relaxed times. So it’s no wonder that Virgin Holidays wanted to create these scents – the longer the holiday feeling lasts, the happier the customer!”

Andrew Shelton, Marketing Director at Virgin Holidays comments: “We were intrigued to find that scents and smells have such a big impact on our memories, reminding us of destinations and trips away. As we want our customers to keep their holiday feeling for as long as possible, we thought we would develop something to extend their experience.

“Adding a little bit of sparkle for our customers, the ‘Ask for the World Aromas’ should help bring back memories of those great holiday moments – and it doesn’t matter whether they favour Florida, Las Vegas or South Africa as we’ve got 13 specially formulated scented room sprays so there’s something for everyone.”

If you want to request an Ask for the World Aroma, visit virginholidays.co.uk and say where you’ve been and where you want to go back to from your living room!