Holidays: what kind of tan are you at the beach?

You’ve dreamed of it all year round: the scorching sun, the warm sand, the azure water and the sound of the surf… On vacation, the beach remains one of the favorite activities of the French, at home or abroad. For 59% of French people, the ideal holiday takes place at the sea, according to a BVA survey carried out in 2018. For 87% of them, sunbathing on holiday and lounging around the swimming pool is a great way to relax and escape reality, according to a recent study by Hotels.com.

The beach “has become the symbol of a refuge from an oppressive and polluted urban world. We go to the beach to escape the city, to recharge our batteries in a “natural” place”, explains Isabelle Bruno, researcher at CERAPS, the center for political and social administrative studies and research, to France 3.

And if some holidaymakers love the coconut palm beaches on the other side of the world, France is not left out in terms of swimming in the fresh air. From the North Sea to the Mediterranean coast, there are around 2,600 beaches in France, and some offer breathtaking scenery.

In hotels and campsites, swimming pools are also taken by storm every summer by those who prefer fresh water to sea air.

Bathing, swimming, playing, or basking in the sun… Everyone has their favorite activities at the water’s edge.

And some behaviors irritate more than others. Thus, again in the “Tanning and idleness” survey by Hotels.com, 35% of French people questioned resent travelers who reserve deckchairs by the water by putting their towels there at dawn, before returning to their hotel room immediately. 34% also say they are annoyed by those who monopolize a deckchair for hours, and 24% by people who hide the sun from them.

And you, what type of tan are you, at the beach or at the pool? Judi James, a psychologist specializing in body language, has identified for Hotels.com 6 profiles of holidaymakers according to their behavior on a deckchair or a towel. Find out in our slideshow which might be right for you – and which might be right for your neighbour.