The holiday industry is worth a jaw-dropping 45 billion pounds a year. And for those choosing to spend big and go luxury, only the best will do. From swanky hotels to high-end adventure holidays, when these holidays go right, they’re perfect paradises and much needed R&R in the lap of luxury. But when they go horribly wrong, they can be catastrophic. Glynis Barber narrates this 90-minute special that features first-hand interviews with people whose holidays ended in disaster.
Highlights include a young holidaymaker who paid thousands for his dream trip to Cape Verde. He planned to propose to his girlfriend on the beach. While trying to wow her by performing a handstand, he tragically injures himself. With no hospitals on the island, he is left for days in excruciating agony. Finally, his insurance company arrange for him to travel back to the UK. But tragedy strikes again when one of the plane’s engines catches fire, leaving him wondering whether he’ll ever get home alive.
A friends’ holiday to the Pearl of the Orient comes screeching to a halt following a horrific motorbike accident. A boat trip in Croatia goes horribly wrong when a young sun-seeker jumps into the water and breaks her back, suffering life-changing injuries. She’s then faced with a bill of £20,000 to cover the air ambulance back to the UK.
Mother nature wreaks havoc leaving a couple facing the eye of a storm as the British Virgin Islands are struck by Hurricane Irma. And a trip-of-a-lifetime to Bali sees a family clinging for dear life when an earthquake hits.
Other stories include a young couple whose luxury break to Egypt fails to impress. After finding themselves in a filthy room, the pair soon find themselves swapping sunbathing for scrubbing!
A family of adventurers, who paid thousands to holiday in the playground of the rich and famous The French Alps, hit the skids when their mountain bike goes hurtling out of control.
A family are enjoying their £4500 Greek holiday, until their child is struck down by Covid. They are then forced to swap their 5-star hotel for a no-star Quarantine Hotel infested with ants. And there’s a honeymoon from hell in Turkey which is far from a delight for young bride Jessica, after a bout of food poisoning leaves her paralyzed by a rare, debilitating disease.
Expert interviews include travel presenters Jonnie Irwin and Leah Charles-King and journalist and broadcaster Simon Calder.
Rating 850,000 5.7% share 25% above slot average