Brits avoid Eurozone

THE WEAK POUND PROMPTS DESTINATION CHANGES

Though recent reports stated that the credit crunch is causing Britons to cancel their summer holidays, travel companies have dismissed this and say the changes lie in holiday maker’s choice of destination and the type of holiday instead. Lastminute.com predicted that holiday makers will be more price-focused this year but will still take a holiday.

From January 2008 to January 2009 the Pound dropped considerably against the Euro, from €1.35 to €1.1, this has prompted a move away from traditionally popular holiday locations in the Eurozone such as Greece and Spain, to non-Euro countries such as Tunisia, Turkey, Egypt, Czech Republic and many opting to save on travel expenses and holiday in the UK to get better value for money.

Turkey especially has been singled out as the hot tip in the travel industry for 2009, with visitor numbers rising by 32% in the past 12 months and this trend is predicted to continue for 2009. An increasing number of Britons see it as a reasonably priced holiday destination, building up its tourist industry in recent years with its wide variety of beach resorts and diverse architecture.

It has become apparent that British travellers are opting for all-inclusive holidays to save money. During 2008 there was a 21% increase in sales of all-inclusive holidays and as a result tour operators have increased their range of these types of holiday for 2009 to offer more choice to holiday makers.

Other changes being made to holidays, are that they are being cut from 14 to 10 days and there has been a significant move from 5* to 3* hotels. From this we can see that holiday makers can still go away if they do their best to budget before they go and when they are away. 

For a guide to the current rate of exchange visit www.onlinefx.co.uk