Despite months of planning annual summer holidays can often end in blazing rows, separation and even divorce for many couples, reveals new research from match.com (leading UK dating site) and expedia.co.uk (UK’s leading online travel website). 1,000 holidaymakers participated in this research on match.com* during May 2008. Research discovered that almost a half of UK citizens (42%) have fought with their partners whilst on holiday. 12%) couples have splitted while being abroad. 1% of married couples in Britain admit to applying for a divorce after falling out with each other on holiday.

Kate Taylor, relationship expert at match.com explained: “With Brits working such long hours these days, holidays can become tension time bombs as couples are suddenly thrown together for long periods of time. Expectations are often blown out of proportion as both people feel the holiday has to be perfect or it's a sure sign the relationship is on the rocks."

Holiday Problems

Spending time together. Women want more special time together whilst on holiday than men. 62% of women said that spending quality time compared to 57% of men.
Who should pay? Bad news for men. Women still expect the men to pay out more money on holiday. 25% of the women thought their partners were too tight and should spend more cash on them while abroad.
Compromise holidays. 49% of couples refuse to compromise with each other on holidays – either he gets his way with the type of holiday he prefers, or she does.
Workaholics. While the majority (83%) of British men say that relaxing is the most important thing for them on holiday, a 25% of British women complained that their partners can’t chill out. Similarly, 13% of women think that men are workaholics objecting to their partners constantly checking their Blackberry. 25% of British men on the other hand, think that women are too lazy and just want to lie around on the beach every day.

Commenting on the findings Alison Couper, Communications Director of Expedia, said: “Summer holidays need not be a disaster for couples – it’s all about better communication and setting expectations. If he wants an adventure holiday to Kilimanjaro and she wants two weeks relaxing in the Maldives there are obviously going to be arguments, but there are several destinations abroad that offer the best of both worlds so we advise couples to shop around to find the ultimate holiday compromise locations.”

How to Avoid Holiday Problems

After reading this research I decided to comment it with few tips on how to avoid problem on holiday and to enjoy them. So here they are:

Find out your spouse holiday interests before you arrive into the hotel. Plan you holidays together. Talk about plans and interests being at home to avoid new suprises on the holidays.
Plan your holiday budget together. Often women simply don't understand that men can't spend all your money on clothings and shopping being on holidays to avoid financial crisis.
Forget about work while you're on holidays. Turn off your phones, laptops - just sit and relax.
Show your feelings to your date. When working and living in the big cities tempo we often forget to express our feelings. When you go to holidays mentally your partners is waiting to hear more "I Love You" and if you satisfy these needs you will never be in problem.

* Match.com is the UK’s No 1 online dating service according to the Nielsen Netratings calculation of unique visitors in April 2008

About match.com

Match.com pioneered online personals when it launched on the Web in 1995 and continues to lead this exciting and evolving category after more than a decade. Today, more than 15 million people around the world participate in the match.com relationship network. match.com operates leading subscription-based online dating sites in 37 countries, in 15 languages, spanning six continents. match.com also powers online dating on MSN across Europe, Asia, the United States and Latin America and is the premier provider of personals for Love@AOL. match.com is an operating business of IAC (NASDAQ:IACI).