New survey reveals worldwide beach-going habits

THE results of a new survey reveal the countries most likely to strip down to their skivvies on their beach holiday, the most popular beach destinations in the world, and the biggest pet peeves when it comes to beach etiquette.

For Expedia's annual Flip Flop Report, more than 11,150 adults in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand were asked about their beach-going habits.

Here are some key findings:

The nationality most likely to hit the beach in their birthday suit?

That title goes to Austrians, who dethroned Germans for the first time. This year, Austrian respondents held a leading edge over German beach-goers, with 28 percent admitting to stripping down to their skivvies at a public beach compared to 25 percent of Germans. The figure dips to 18 percent for American beach-goers and 10 percent worldwide. Predictably, the shyest, most modest beach-goers hail from Asia.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who are the fairest beachgoers of them all?

That honour goes to Europe, with nearly a quarter (24 percent) of respondents citing European beach-goers as the most attractive followed by the sunbathers from the Caribbean (17 percent), and Americans (14 percent).

The most popular beach destinations

The answer to this differs among beach-goers around the world. The beach destination most visited by US sun worshippers is Mexico. At the worldwide level, the most visited beaches are found in Spain, followed by Australia, Italy and Mexico.

Beach etiquette

Are you a beach slob? Do you turn a blind eye when your kid sand-bombs sunbathers for fun? Congratulations, you are among the most reviled beach-goers out there. Here's how the pet peeves rank:

1. The slob 48 percent 2. The inattentive parent 44 percent 3. The loudmouth 37 percent 4. The encroacher 35 percent 5. The boozer 34 percent