Escape from the world of the chavellers

The Burberry bikini is packed, Kappa shellsuit zipped up and duty-free long since consumed, the "chav", a working-class youth with a taste for chunky gold and designer labels, has now gone global, according to a report.

He is frightening off middle-class holiday-makers from exotic destinations, such as India and Thailand.

While Spain's Benidorm, Faliraki on Rhodes and Ayia Napa in Cyprus remain strongholds in the sun for the social group epitomised by Vicky Pollard in Little Britain, tens of thousands of "chavs" are also jetting off to Australia and Cambodia, much to the consternation of middle-class tourists who believe these destinations have been soiled by association.

More affluent tourists are classifying some resorts in the Far East and the Antipodes as they would the corner store after dark - a chav hang-out and best avoided. Instead, they are packing their Hermes bags - Louis Vuitton has, unfortunately, also been colonised by the chavs - and are jetting off to countries such as Chile, Brazil and Libya.

Only in Machu Picchu, the ancient village in the Andes mountains of Peru, or in the deserts of Libya, do people consider themselves safe - for the time being, at least - from the hordes of chavs in cowboy hats and kaftans.

"The prospect of going somewhere the chavs favour is too awful to contemplate for the middle classes," said Julian Rolfe, the project manager at Vegas, the youth division of the company, Synovate, which conducted the "chaveller" research.

He went on: "For the middle classes, going somewhere like Chile, Libya or Mozambique has real bragging appeal and sets them apart from the crowd. You could say the more affluent are seeking a road less chavelled."

The UK and European Travel Report, published at the opening of the World Travel Market in London yesterday, showed tourist tastes have evolved.

A few decades ago, the typical chav would have been content with a caravan holiday in Margate, or perhaps a week at Blackpool or Brighton. The social group's infiltration of continental Europe began with ferry crossings to France and the cheap package holiday to Spain. However, the advent of low-cost airlines, such as EasyJet and Ryanair, has exported the custom of binge-drinking and bed-hopping throughout Europe.

The new report also found low-cost airlines were dictating how European countries performed as tourist destinations among chavs or otherwise.

Low-fare airline trips now make up 40 per cent of the total UK air journey market to Europe. Based on figures for the first nine months of 2005, Estonia - which is now served by EasyJet flights to Tallinn - reports UK visitors up 77 per cent on last year. Similar leaps were seen for Poland, where UK visitors were up 47 per cent, Slovakia (up 45.6 per cent), Lithuania (40 per cent) and Slovenia (18 per cent).

The move by chavs to take long holidays in destinations further afield, such as Asia and Australia, is a result, according to the report, of the adaptability of their trades, such as hairdressing, brick-laying and plumbing.

According to Mr Rolfe: "They are more confident about being able to pick up their old job when they get back than someone who works in an office."

The report also showed that middle-class young people were forgoing their traditional working break between school and higher education because of increased competition for graduate jobs, fears over university fees and student debts. Their place in the sun was being taken by chavs who felt more able to quit their jobs, knowing they could pick up where they left off.

Mr Rolfe said: "Chavs tend to live at home with parents. It's convenient, they've greater freedoms than ever before and more disposable income to spend on travel. The internet and the growth of travel magazines mean they have more information available to them. And, of course, they have fewer responsibilities and don't fear for their jobs. It all adds up to a willingness to take extended trips."

According to the report, the more affluent traveller is waiting until he or she reaches their thirties to do any extensive travelling.

"They find that they're at a crossroads in their lives. Do they settle down, have children and spend the next 20 years in front of a PC? Or do they go for one last fling around the world?" said Mr Rolfe. "If they do choose the second option, they are far more likely to head for Chile, Peru, Laos, Nepal, Mozambique or Brazil - destinations that the chaveller has yet to colonise.

Examples of the affluent travelling chav are Wayne Rooney, the Manchester United striker, and his girlfriend, Colleen McLoughlin, who was caught by customs with 14,000 worth of purchases in her Louis Vuitton luggage after a shopping trip to New York. She was later charged 3,000 in duty.

Meanwhile, Michael Carroll, the former binman dubbed "King of the Chavs" after he won 9.7 million on the lottery, has been unable even to leave the UK. His girlfriend, Sam Howard, said: "We never had a holiday abroad because he was always on police bail and not allowed to leave the country."

The arrival of chavellers in the distant corners is not as surprising as many may at first expect, according to Tom Hall, a spokesman for the Lonely Planet guide books. "There are areas such as Goa in India and Ko Samui in Thailand where the path has been worn smooth. They are foreign lands but they can have all the familiarity of home, down to Sky TV and fish and chips. That has always happened in holiday destinations, but for those who don't want to sit on a beach next to a Burberry bikini there is always a quieter place up the road. You just have to look."

A style all their own

WHILE the origin of the word 'chav' remains up for debate - some say it is a distortion of the Anglo-Romany word 'chavi' meaning child - at least people tend to know one when they see one.

The signature clobber is the Burberry check baseball cap.

Kappa tracksuits or shellsuits remain a popular favourite among chavs, as are spotless white Reebok trainers which are always worn with white socks.

The 'hoodie' - as a hooded tracksuit top is now referred to - is another regular item of clothing.

Jewellery is popular among both sexes, with male chavs displaying an overt passion for gold sovereign rings, preferably one for each finger, while female chavs prefer to pierce their ears and string them with as many hoops as is humanly possible.

On holiday, men tend to opt for the large vest tops with slashed necks and wide open arms, known as 'wife-beaters' and shorts so long they almost touch their ankles.

The women, meanwhile, insist on using fake tan, often on top of their real tan or scarlet burns.

On the beach, they favour day-glo thongs and Burberry bikinis, while at night the thong is usually, but not always, covered by the briefest of mini-skirts and can be teamed with a cowboy hat.

Where Burberry bikinis find their place in the sun

1) Thailand: The bars and beaches of Ko Samui have in recent years become a major attraction for chavs seeking a change from the bars and beaches of Ayia Napa.

2) India: The golden sands of Goa were once the preserve of backpackers prepared to rough it in wooden huts, but now that a solid commercial infrastructure is in place, the chavs have followed.

3) Australia: The Gold Coast and Sydney are the perfect hang-outs for those who enjoy a touch of bling while downing case after case of the amber nectar.

4) Cambodia: This may seem an obscure destination for the average chav, until you discover it was here that their favourite film was shot: Tomb Raider.

5) Spain: Chav tours of the Alhambra may be rare, but Benidorm continues to bustle and echo to the din of their drunken fights.

Getting away from bling

1) Laos: Those bothered by the arrival of chavs in Cambodia have merely slipped into Laos, where they now cruise contentedly down the Mekong river.

2) Chile: Bragging rights at dinner parties can be secured by spending a few days at Torres del Paine, a stunning national park and mountain range in Patagonia.

3) Brazil: The beaches of Rio are already full of gold medallions and green day-glo thongs, but hang on, at least they belong to Brazilians.

4) Maine: Rugged coastlines and vast forests with crashing whitewater rivers. Lighthouses, fishing villages, lobsters and leaf-peeping. This is not Florida.

5) Libya: The former pariah state is now attracting the middle classes to a few days' camel-riding through the Sahara desert.