Annoying habits staff will encounter on vacation

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With public holidays coming up in Malaysia on 22 August, 23 August, and 31 August, some employees may be planning to take a short trip to de-stress or visit family members from out of town.

While on holiday, they will be spared from the 10 irritating workplace habits. However, the annoyance will follow in the form of irritating travel habits.

According to a survey by Agoda's global ‘Annoying Travel Habits’ survey, the top three irritants staff will face while on vacation are noisy travellers (57%), those glued to their devices (47%), and tourists who are insensitive to cultural nuances (46%). Rounding up the top five annoying habits are mass tour groups and selfie-takers, cited by 36% and 21% respectively.

When it comes to being glued to their devices, perhaps unsurprisingly, solo travellers spend nearly two hours a day on their devices when on holiday (117 minutes) – 15% more time than when they are traveling with friends (100 minutes) and 26% more time than if they are with family (86 minutes).

Zooming in on Malaysian travellers, the most annoying habits cited were insensitivity to cultural nuances (60%), noisy travellers (56%) and being glued to devices (51%). By age, those 55 and older are the least tolerant of noisy travellers - 74% compared to survey average of 56%. The age group most guilty of being glued to their devices are the 18 to 24 year-olds, spending 243 minutes on their devices each day versus 218 minutes for all respondents.

In neighobouring Singapore, noisy travellers (68%), insensitivity to cultural nuances (63%) and mass tour groups (49%) are the most annoying for Singaporean travellers. Tolerance for mass tour groups increases in age for Singaporeans with those aged 18 to 24 the most annoyed (53%) and those aged 55 or older the least annoyed (36%). Singaporeans spend over an hour and a half (101 minutes) a day on their devices while traveling with family; and nearly two hours a day when traveling with friends (114 minutes) or traveling solo (110 minutes).

Over in China, noisy travellers (68%), device dependence (47%) and mass tour groups (33%) are the habits they found the most annoying. Similarly, Chinese travellers are more mindful of their device use while on family trips, only 10% admitted to spending four or more hours on their devices when traveling with family, versus 30% when going solo.

In the Philippines, the most annoying habits were insensitivity to cultural nuances (61%), noisy travellers (59%) and peopled glued to their devices (52%). Like Malaysia, the older travellers are less tolerant of noisy companions (83% versus 59% survey average). When it comes to screen time on family trips, those aged 18 to 24 (23%) use their devices the most, admitting four hours or more a day of screen time. Older family members (55 and older) are least likely to be glued to their devices (3%).

Photo / 123RF