It seems a statement of the blindingly obvious. Young sun-seeking clubbers out for a good time abroad also have a lot of sex.
Academics and health officials who quizzed dance tourists as they waited for the plane home from Ibiza found one in four men and one in seven women had sex with more than one person during an average 10-day stay, fuelling concern over the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
More than half of the 16- to 35-year-olds questioned had sex during the holiday but a quarter were there with their partner. Of the remaining three-quarters, just under half had sex during their stay but most said they had always used a condom.
More than one in 10 men and 3% of women claimed to have had sex with at least six different people. The proportion of visitors having unprotected sex increased over the three years.
The figures were taken from questionnaries filled in by 1,500 holidaymakers as they waited for flights back to Britain over three summers.
The researchers, including academics from Liverpool John Moores University, writing in the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases, say their findings are important because there is very little information about the sexual behaviour of young people abroad despite media coverage of clubbing resorts.
The authors say substantial numbers sampling nightlife abroad are having unprotected sex with people they meet on holiday. They say that tour operators, airlines and event organisers at dance resorts must do more to spell out the dangers, otherwise the holidaygoers will help fuel the already spiralling epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases.
Having sex at all in Ibiza, having unprotected sex and having sex with more than one person were all more common in people who had higher numbers of sexual partners in the six months before going to the island.
The survey also suggests that one in 12 visitors in the age group will have sex with someone not from Britain. Given that more than 250,000 young people visit Ibiza from Britain alone each year, the authors say this points to a "substantial conduit for transmission of sexually transmitted infections between countries".
Most young people say they go to Ibiza for the music. However, the researchers say "a significant minority acquire multiple sexual partners abroad and do not consistently practise safe sex. Such individuals are also the most likely to have multiple partners in the United Kingdom".
Without extra attempts to protect the sexual health of young people abroad "already elevated rates of sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies in the United Kingdom may continue to climb, fuelled by a mixture of media hype, substance use and opportunity associated with dance music tourism".
