British children unable to pinpoint top holiday hotspots
New research reveals that British children have been abroad five times by the age of ten – yet a tenth (12 per cent) cannot locate the UK on a map of the world.
The study by Heathrow of 1,000 children between the age of six and ten found that while a whopping 78 per cent of British children have been abroad, many find it difficult to identify the locations of even the most popular destinations.
According to the findings:
- Almost half of children (48 per cent) have been to Spain by the age of ten and 42 per cent have visited France
- Nearly one in two of the respondents polled (45 per cent) could not pinpoint Spain on a map
- Over a third (36 per cent) could not find France
- 41 per cent of the children did not know that the UK was in Europe
- Just over half (51 per cent) were unable to find Germany.
Surprisingly, the children performed better when asked about countries outside of Europe with Australia being correctly identified by the largest amount of children (78 per cent), closely followed by Russia (73 per cent).
With 3.6 million passengers – many of whom are children – expected to pass through Heathrow over the Easter holidays, the UK's only hub airport has installed giant globes in all of its terminals to help its younger passengers learn more about the world around them and make their journeys better.
As well as a huge ten foot diameter globe in Terminal 5 Departures, 20,000 maps will be handed to young travellers, adding to their excitement about the destinations ahead and helping them to understand more about different cultures and geographical locations across the world, bringing them closer together.
Indicating how easy global travel has become, the research also revealed that:
- The USA is the third most visited destination amongst children aged six and ten
- One in five children have visited the States (19 per cent)
- Despite this, nearly a half of the respondents (42 per cent) could not pinpoint America on a map
- Five per cent thought that the US shares a border with the UK.
This geographical uncertainty may be explained by the fact that less than a half of the children polled (44 per cent) have a globe in their home, while more than a third (36 per cent) said they had not looked at an atlas in the past year. One in four (24 per cent) did not even know what an atlas was.
This weekend is anticipated to be the busiest yet this year for Heathrow with 870,387 passengers set to fly through between now and Sunday. Over 215,000 passengers are predicted to fly from the airport on Saturday alone.
To ensure a smooth and enjoyable holiday, Heathrow will offer dedicated family lanes and many child-friendly initiatives during the Easter holidays including pre-flight play areas, signage at child's eye-level and ‘kids eat free' offers.
John Holland-Kaye, commercial director at Heathrow said: "Easter is a busy period for Heathrow as thousands of families head off for holidays to destinations worldwide. We hope our world globes will create a fun talking point amongst our younger passengers and help bring Heathrow's over 180 destinations to life."
Notes to editors
(1) Heathrow used the independent online research company ResearchBods who surveyed 1,000 British children aged between six and ten from a nationally representative sample under parental supervision, between 02 and 07 February 2012. Children were asked to identify the location of countries by selecting a grid overlaid onto a world map. Its researches are members of the MRS, PRCA, BPC and Esomar, and abide by their guidelines. Further information is available at www.researchbods.com.
