Boom of the British beach holiday

Environmentally conscious Brits are expected to take over 27 million UK beach holidays this year with 61 per cent saying they will shun carbon-heavy flights abroad in favour of an old fashioned driving holiday to the British seaside. However, a mountainous 160,000 tonnes of sand will inadvertently be taken home with them – enough to fill 25,000 family cars.

Chevrolet Captiva, the new SUV from Chevrolet, questioned 1,100 UK adults on their holiday habits to mark the launch of the ‘Captiva Family Summer Guide’ – a free online guide to the best driving destinations in the UK.

The top ten most popular beaches destinations Brits will drive to this year are:

1. Devon (25 per cent of beach holiday makers will head here)
2. Newquay (12 per cent)
3. Scarborough (& surrounding area) (10 per cent)
4. Blackpool (6 per cent)
5. Bournemouth (5 per cent)
6. Brighton (5 per cent)
7. Norfolk (4 per cent)
8. Weymouth (3 per cent)
9. Weston-Super-Mare (2 per cent)
10. Skegness (2 per cent)

Despite the car being the majority of people’s second most valuable asset, the equivalent of 50 million buckets of sand finds its way into the family motor every year – with most sand being transported from coast to car via shoes and clothing (54 per cent).

33 per cent is carried in towels and blankets, 5 per cent remains in your bucket and spade, 1 per cent is caught in newspapers and books and 6 per cent is taken from the beach via people’s hair and body parts. Women are much more likely to be covered in sand come the end of the day – carrying an average of 7 kilograms of sand away with them each year compared to a man’s 5 kilograms.

Chevrolet’s Les Turton comments:

“It seems British seaside holidays are enjoying a resurgence in popularity, so much so that we are accidentally taking 25,000 amount of cars full of sand home with us. Driving holidays are a great way to discover Britain and also spend some quality time with the family – just make sure if you’re going to the beach you don’t lose them under the surplus sand on the way back.”

The ‘Captiva Family Summer Guide’ giving advice on the best driving days out in the UK is available for free from Chevrolet.co.uk.