SINGAPORE – TravelMole is wary of media releases that trumpet the results of surveys that have the knack of producing results that favour the business of the company that commissioned the poll.
None more so than this self-serving effort from Holiday Inn which found people often experience a Christmas holiday season fraught with disagreements and family rows.
The survey was commissioned by Holiday Inn and conducted by Opinion Matters / Tickbox.net in November 2008 among more than 2,000 UK adults 16 years and over.
Holiday Inn, part of IHG, asked respondents about family life over the festive period and discovered that disagreements over what to watch on television is the most common source of Christmas arguments.
Nearly 30 per cent of respondents also declared that deciding whose family to spend Christmas with is a catalyst for arguments.
Once this is decided, a fifth of people feel that relatives overstaying their welcome lead to even more rifts during the holidays.
By now, you will have an inkling of where this survey is going.
Yes, 45 per cent of people questioned thought that the best way to prevent the majority of rows would be to stay in a hotel during Christmas rather than staying with relatives.
And, not surprisingly, Eleanor Conroy, spokesperson for IHG, said: “Our hotels can offer a viable alternative to entertaining relatives at home. There are a range of great deals to be taken advantage of at Holiday Inn hotels at Christmas time and we hope that many people choose to spend a peaceful, argument-free Christmas with us.â€
TravelMole’s advice is to avoid Holiday Inns this Christmas. They will be full of grumpy people seriously unhappy that they have no-one to argue with.
