Nature programmes ‘inspire’ British holiday choices

Brits are influenced in their holiday decisions by locations seen on wildlife documentaries, a new survey has revealed.

Holidays to South Africa are among the most popular destinations for British travellers looking to follow in the footsteps of David Attenborough, according to research carried out by travelsupermarket.com.

Safari was selected as the top nature holiday in a list of ten, while dolphin and whale watching was not far behind with 36 per cent of respondents opting to go in search of the giants of the deep.

South Africa was one of the destinations named as a good choice for both activities, while Egypt’s Red Sea was cited as a preferred option for those who wanted to scuba dive.

Bob Atkinson, travel expert at travelsupermarket.com, commented: “There are countless options available to our animal loving nation, from jungle trekking to whale watching and destinations where tourists can get close to nature are becoming increasingly accessible to the masses.”

Documentaries such as the highly successful Blue Planet series and David Attenborough’s latest offering, Life, continue to occupy primetime TV slots.

Earlier this month, the Times reported that nature lovers inspired by programmes such as Autumnwatch had been blamed for disrupting mating rituals of red deer in the New Forest.

Written by Nicholas Scott