Most attractive holiday hookups? The results of this international ‘Ogling Olympiad’ are divisive. Photo / Reddit, Pour Moi
A survey into the most desirable destinations for holiday romance, has revealed that the rest of the world is largely “yeah-nah” on the idea of a holiday fling with a Kiwi.
Sun, sea and swimsuits. A holiday romance is a cliché that tourists can’t help but fall for. There’s something about an exotic location, new culture or sexy accent, that sets travellers hearts racing. However there are some destinations where holiday romances are more desirable than others.
A UK swimsuit company has revealed the countries where travellers are most open to holiday hookups.
While New Zealand didn’t rate with holiday makers - landing 24th, mid-table in a field of 50 - India was found to be the most appealing place for a travel tryst. The country was rated number 1, scoring well with both men and women.
The swimwear designers Pour Moi said they compiled the study to satisfy a desire; they wanted to find out which countries ticked the most boxes for holidaymakers.
“We were curious to find out what the world thinks of other nationalities in the sexiness stakes,” said the company’s marketing department.
While there’s something slightly questionable about ranking a country by the attractiveness of their inhabitants ( let alone objectifying actual people), they turned to technology to solve this moral dilemma.
Using AI software to compile generic images of “attractive” individuals, male and female, to represent each of the 50 most visited nations.
They let these computer generated thirst pots loose online to see what the public thought.
Reading the reach, sentiment and comments for each of the hundred images they calculated a “sexiness” score for each. The results of the international ‘Ogling Olympiad’ are divisive.
India was ranked number one with 2628 “upvotes”, followed by the USA with 1936, then Sweden with 1899. Using the software model Midjourney trained on online imagery, Pour Moi said that the sumptuous visual imagery of Bollywood may have helped sway the results.
India took rank 1 for women and 2 for men in the most attractive mugshots.
“It comes as no surprise that India claims the top spot, the country has achieved record success in iconic competitions such as Miss World, where it’s been crowned a total of six times with its earliest win back in 1966 and most recent victory in 2017,” they said.
Depending on your persuasion some destinations may be more disappointing than others. UK men took pole position, rated number in the table, but the United Kingdom failed to make the top ten, falling to 12 with only 773 upvotes.
“We perhaps could accredit the UK’s success thanks to its array of musical and acting talent that is currently dominating the world’s stage.”
The least appealing for a holiday dalliance is in the Swiss Alps.
The community Helvetiques claim some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, bringing in tourists from across the globe. The Swiss only scored 69 upvotes, landing them on bottom of the rung For holiday romance, in 50th position.
New Zealand was voted middle of the road for looks. Men and women failed to turn many heads, scoring 390 upvotes between them. Australia didn’t do much better, falling one place above New Zealand in 23rd. However, beauty is only skin deep.
In a separate survey the New Zealand accent took the title of “world’s sexiest”. The Big 7 placed Kiwi as the most appealing accent, back to back years in 2019 and 2020.
A holiday hookup is more than a “passport to passion”. For solo travellers it has long been romanticised as a desirable way to get to know a destination or learn a new language. The French have a euphemism for picking up insider tips from a holiday romance, referring to it as going to “L’Ecole Horizontale”
For all the international talent, holiday romances are a difficult field to navigate. Beyond the language barrier, they can evaporate quicker than non-water resistant sunscreen.
In 2016 Tinder published their top cities where international travellers are most likely to score a match. London, Paris and New York took Gold, Silver and Bronze. Auckland punched well above its weight landing 13th in pulling power.
1. India 2,628 (Upvotes and posts to Reddit)
2. USA 1,936
3. Sweden 1,899
4. Japan 1,468
5. Canada 1,312
6. Brazil 1,096
7. France 1,033
8. Italy 1,024
9. Ukraine 958
10. Denmark 926
11. Poland 919
12. UK 773
13. Germany 721
14. Spain 594
15. Mexico 587
16. China 574
17. Ireland 490
18. Israel 482
19. Netherlands 443
20. Colombia 443
21. Norway 419
22. Turkey 416
23. Australia 405
24. New Zealand 390
25. Lebanon 340
26. Romania 330
27. Pakistan 324
28. Czech Republic 285
29. Finland 259
30. Greece 255
31. Venezuela 250
32. Ethiopia 245
33. Philippines 234
34. Thailand 197
35. Portugal 171
36. Vietnam 168
37. Iceland 166
38. Hungary 162
39. Somalia 156
40. Armenia 150
41. Belgium 147
42. Croatia 143
43. Saudi Arabia 125
44. Egypt 117
45. Chile 116
46. Cuba 92
47. Albania 89
48. Latvia 74
49. Indonesia 73
50. Switzerland 69
Source: Pour Moi