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ADVICE for holidaymakers heading to a beach or a pool this summer – don’t hog beach chairs and men, leave the skimpy speedos at home.
A survey by travel website TripAdvisor found that 84 percent of travellers said people should not be allowed to “save” beachside or poolside chairs by getting up early and leaving a towel or other personal items on the chair for hours.
Cigarettes also irked people, with 82 per cent of 3,800 US respondents wanted smoking banned around the pool while 62 per cent wanted a smoke-free beach so people could not discard their butts in the sand.
Men in tight-fitting swimsuits were also unpopular, with 35 per cent of travelers thinking this violated etiquette, although only 24 per cent were against women wearing revealing bikinis.
But urinating in the water was voted the most annoying violation of beach or pool etiquette, with 16 per cent calling it the worst breach.
The survey found that bad manners in the sun were believed to be commonplace, with eight out of every 10 respondents saying people often or always violate some form of beach or pool etiquette.
The most common breaches of etiquette were listed as beach chair hogging, urinating in the water and littering. Blasting loud music was also a major irritant.
Americans were named as the worst beach and pool etiquette offenders, listed as such by 22 percent of respondents, while Germans came in second with seven percent of the vote.
“With summer in full swing, ’tis the season for some annoying behavior on the beach and at the pool,” Michele Perry, vice president of communications for TripAdvisor said.
“Travellers would do well to mind their manners and take other travelers into consideration.”