Holiday 'blind bookers' warned

Almost half of holidaymakers book trips without having any idea what their chosen destination is like, according to a survey.

Asked why they had done no research on their foreign resort, the majority of these "blind bookers" said they did want to "over-complicate" things, the poll by travel agent sunshine.co.uk found.

For around 25% of the blind bookers, just the look of the hotel was enough to settle the choice of destination, while 78% said their lack of research had not prevented them having "a very good" holiday.

A total of 2,128 adults were questioned for the survey, with each having been on an overseas holiday in the last 12 months.

A total of 39% had done research on their chosen destination before booking, 13% were revisiting a resort and 48% said they had done no research at all.

Of the blind bookers, 41% said they had mugged up on the destination once they had made their booking, with two thirds of these belated researchers getting "anxious" about what they had found out about it.

Almost 20% of those who admitted to blind booking said they had been "disappointed" by their holiday.

Sunshine.co.uk managing director Chris Clarkson said: "It always pays to do some homework before booking a holiday.If you book somewhere without checking a few things first you might be disappointed on arrival."