Almost one in four holidaymakers who took part in a survey admitted that they opened up a book for the first time when they were away. It was suggested that the findings reflected a lack of time for reading or “apathy” towards it. An online survey of 8,600 travellers, commissioned by TripAdvisor, the travel website, found that 23 per cent read a book for the first time on holiday. “A good book has long been a staple of a relaxing holiday and it’s encouraging to see that we still enjoy reading when we go away,” said a spokesman for the website. “But whether it’s lack of time, attention spans decreasing, or a general apathy towards reading, the fact that almost a quarter of us only manage to read a book when we’re on holiday really is quite a sad state of affairs.” The survey comes after separate research found that E-books sales were rising compared to a fall in the number of physical books being sold. Publishers are hoping that a barrage of “Olympic-Lit” will break book sale records this Christmas on the back of several autobiographies of Britain’s London 2012 athletes.
