These are the 18 most common reasons women give for having sex on holiday

A new study has analysed the circumstances in which women are most likely to take sexual risks on holiday.

Drawing on previous studies which have shown that travel leads to increased risk-taking (a sort of "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" mentality), researchers from the University of Illinois sought to understand the exact triggers where holiday-makers changed their behaviour in order to help tailor public health campaigns.

Their report, published in the Tourism Management journal, used both in-depth interviews with 13 women in the US as well as an anonymous online survey with a further 853.

These are the most-cited factors in sexual risk-taking on holiday (average score where respondents asked to rate on a scale of 1 "strongly inhibits" to 5 "strongly facilitates"):

1. Alcohol consumption - 4.31

2. The party-scene at the destination - 4.15

3. Being detached from everyday norms - 4.12

4. Being in a break-loose mood - 4.1

5. Feeling more sexually confident - 4.09

6. Having lots of free leisure time - 3.99

7. A scene where revealing clothing is appropriate - 3.95

8. Consuming recreational drugs - 3.92

9. Feeling invincible in terms of risk consequences - 3.91

10. A permissive sexual atmosphere - 3.86

11. A touristic fun-oriented mentality - 3.84

12. Being anonymous - 3.83

13. A lack of social expectations - 3.8

14. The ability to leave bad experiences behind - 3.79

15. The beach scene at the destination - 3.75

16. Feeling like a different person - 3.71

17. Not expecting a lasting relationship - 3.67

18. Meeting new people - 3.65

In addition to these factors, the report also reveals that women in steady relationships said they are most likely to have sex on "relaxation" holidays (90.3 per cent), while singletons were more likely to have sex on group tours (49.8 per cent).

The study's authors - Liza Berdychevsky and Heather Gibson - suggest that "identifying the touristic contexts conducive to sexual risk-taking may help target and streamline education-prevention-intervention efforts".

"For instance," they note, "with respect to casual sex, the findings suggest focusing on group tours, sightseeing trips, rest and relaxation vacations, and backpacking journeys (with a potential overlap between some of these options)."

They also note that campaigns could be targeted geographically - with European countries (25.0 per cent), beach and tropical islands (13.0 per cent), specific tropical destinations (11.6 per cent), US cities such Las Vegas, New York, and Miami (8.6 per cent) proving popular for casual sex.

More: Couples were blindfolded and had to guess if they were touching each other or a stranger