We’ve all had them: t-shirts bearing the logo ‘My family went to Greece and all I got was this lousy t-shirt’ or toy donkeys and sombreros from Spain, but a new survey has revealed the true cost of unwanted holiday gifts, and it is a whopping £5billion.
The survey of 2,000 people by travel search website Skyscanner also shows that 69 per cent of people don’t appreciate holiday souvenirs bought for them, while 15 per cent bin them as soon as they receive them.
Ornaments ranked top as the most disappointing gift to receive (14 per cent), with comedy t-shirts (9 per cent) and cheap jewellery (9 per cent) following closely. Though souvenir classics, key-rings and fridge magnets also failed to impress (7 per cent), while food items (4 per cent), snow globes (4 per cent) and dodgy DVDs (4 per cent) were also disheartening.
More than eight out of 10 holidaymakers (82 per cent) waste on average £23.24 on unwanted gifts, which means that, extrapolated across Europe, we waste £5billion a year.
What happens to the gifts doesn’t make happy reading either: only 4 per cent of people find their gifted souvenirs any use, 18 per cent of holiday gifts are hidden away in cupboards, while 10 per cent are donated to charity. A cheeky 6 per cent even admitted to giving the gifts away to someone else.
Top 10 most unwanted holiday gifts:
1. Ornament
2. Comedy t-shirt
3. Cheap jewellery
4. Key-ring
5. Magnet
6. Food item
7. Snow globe
8. Fake DVD
9. Local drink
10. Airline branded toy
What’s the worst holiday gift you’ve been given? Tell us by commenting below
If a friend came back with a bottle of limoncello from Tuscany or truffles from Belgium I’d be rather happy. An interesting read, but does make me wonder what gifts would need to be given to make the respondents happy?