Want to have better sex on holiday? Leave your phone at home

While 40 per cent of the people said they refrained from making the first move due to phone use by the partner, 72 respondents even admitted to using phones during sex! The findings showed that sex life of those under 35 was more affected by phone and social media use.

Over a quarter admitted that checking phones on holiday can cause rows. Relaxing by the pool or the beach might seem the optimum time to switch off and relax, but almost half of the respondents said they use phones/tablets at this time as well – women being the main offenders, with 27 per cent more admitting to it than men.

To see if these stats were truly reflective of modern relationships, Durex invited real couples on the holiday of a lifetime as part of a filmed social experiment dividing them into couples with and without technology. This experiment too confirmed that ‘digital distraction’ interfered with couple’s sex lives. “Holidays used to be a time to relax and reconnect with our partners,” Volker Sydow, Global Director at Durex, said in a press release.

“However, this experiment has shown us that growing reliance on portable technology for entertainment and affirmation – even when on holiday – is blocking our chance to refresh our relationships,” Sydow noted.

Conducting accompanying scientific research in response to the survey findings, Sharif Mowlabocus from Centre of Sexual Dissidence at the University of Sussex found that rather than identifying the bedroom as a romantic setting, many couples spoke about the hotel bedroom as a location for intense device use due to the free Wi-Fi access.

Mowlabocus also indicated that for couples, there is evidence that “the use of a device by one partner encourages device use by the other partner”, thus exacerbating the issue.