UK travellers 'should be given safe sex advice' to combat global spread of STIs

One in 12 UK travellers has had sexual contact with a stranger while on holiday, according to a major new study

The study's authors said the rise in international travel had led to greater sexual mixing between both young and old people from different nationalities (Getty Images)

British holidaymakers should be given advice on sexual health when they book their travels due to the substantial numbers of people – old and young – who are having sex with new partners while abroad.

In the past five years, one in 12 UK travellers had sexual contact with a stranger while on holiday, according to a major new study.

Those who reported having sex with a new partner while overseas were also much more likely to report other “high-risk” behaviours, such as not using a condom, illicit drug use or excessive alcohol intake.

Information on safer sex should be included in routine advice to travellers before they depart, the study’s authors said, regardless of the person’s age, destination or reason for travel.

Male respondents were more likely to report having sex with someone new while abroad, the equivalent of roughly one in 10 men. The figure was closer to one in 20 for women. But both men and women who said they had done so were also more likely to have been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection at some point in the last five years.

The warning to Britons comes from two studies published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections, part of a suite of publications produced by the British Medical Journal.

In a second study, British nationals were second only to Swedes in reporting inconsistent use of condoms while having sex with new partners during trips abroad.

By contrast, German and Canadian travellers reported having more sexual partners while on holiday but better practices in terms of safe sex, according to a survey involving a relatively small number of backpackers to Thailand.

And crucially, the studies combined show it is not just young backpackers who are engaging in potentially risky sexual behaviours abroad. Older men were actually more likely than younger men to report having paid for sex outside the UK, for example.

The dramatic increase in international travel has “huge” potential to boost the sexual mixing of different nationalities and, in turn, spread antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, the studies’ authors warned.

“The consequences on STIs could be substantial,” said Alberto Matteelli and Susanna Capone of the University of Brescia, Italy, citing the example of how syphilis may have been introduced to Europe by conquistadors returning from the Americas.