Powerful pound means more holiday cash
With sterling soaring to its highest rate this year against European currencies, families travelling to the eurozone and other Continental hotspots at the end of the school term can expect to have up to 11.5 per cent more cash in hand compared with last summer. However, the fourth annual Post Office Travel Money Family Holiday Report reveals that forgetting to pack kids’ ‘must-haves’ and paying out for holiday extras could wipe out the sterling gain and cost hundreds of unbudgeted pounds.
In research conducted for the Post Office report, 81 per cent of parents who had been on a family holiday said their kids had pestered them for holiday extras. Two-thirds named ice creams as the biggest drain on the holiday purse while 44 per cent said their kids craved fizzy drinks. 39 per cent demanded beach items like buckets and spades or lilos while almost two-in-five parents (38 per cent) gave in to pester power for a water park visit.
Other family budget busters included swimming goggles, beach clothes, coin-operated games and sun loungers. However, prices for these extras vary dramatically across 12 European destinations surveyed for the Family Holiday Report’s Beach Barometer.
Bulgaria, the Costa del Sol and Turkey emerge as cheapest in a barometer of 10 holiday items that included kids’ beach extras, suncream, insect repellent, sun lounger hire, a soft drink, an ice cream, a water park visit and a family meal out. At £110.17 in Sunny Beach, £121.11 in Torremolinos and £129.29 in Marmaris, these three destinations were the ones least likely to bust the family holiday budget. By contrast, the same items cost 72 per cent more in Crete (£189.15), the highest-priced destination.
Bournemouth, included in a Post Office barometer for the first time, came in fifth place at £147.23 for the 10 beach holiday extras.
Prices varied within countries as well. For example, in Spain the barometer items cost over 30 per cent more in Majorca than on the Costa del Sol - £157.96 compared with £121.11 - while in Javea on the Costa Blanca they cost £138.79. However, if the cost of a water park visit is excluded, Javea was actually five per cent cheaper than Torremolinos on the Costa del Sol (£70.00, compared with £73.70).
Family Holiday Report Price Comparisons At A Glance:
Drinks cost least in Portugal: A Coca-Cola costs just 86p in the Algarve but families will have to fork out more than double in Bournemouth (£1.75), Turkey (£1.95), Corfu (£1.94), Cyprus (£1.98), France (£2.16) and Crete (2.24).
A chocolate-covered ice cream costs £1.29 in Portugal but will set parents back £1.98 in Crete, £2.76 in France’s Vendée and, surprisingly, £2.26 in Bulgaria
Parents who forget to pack a lilo can pick one up for £2.26 in Bulgaria but will pay over three times as much in Corfu (£7.76), Costa del Sol (£8.53) and Italy (£8.62)
The best-buy jelly shoes are in Portugal’s Algarve. At £2.59, this is less than half the price in five other destinations (Turkey, Majorca, Corfu, Crete and Italy)
Water babies wanting swimming goggles will cost parents just £2.16 in the Costa del Sol but more than double in Corfu (£5.17), Crete (£5.60), Turkey (£5.86) and the Vendée (£6.90)
The cost of a family visit to a water park varied from £41.63 in Bulgaria to £75.00 in the Vendée, France and £94.83 in Cyprus. Although a trip to a water park may cost more in Ayia Napa, when this is excluded from the Beach Barometer total, the country emerges as fourth cheapest.
Family meals present another potential pitfall for parents hoping to keep their holiday costs to a minimum. At under £44 for a three-course meal including drinks, Bulgaria, Corfu and Portugal (Algarve) share the honours as the cheapest places for a family to eat out. However, eating out in Bournemouth will set families back almost £70 (£68.75), while the cost in Crete rockets to over £73 (£73.28).
Andrew Brown, Post Office Head of Travel Money, said: “Our Beach Barometer shows just how much beach extras can add to the family holiday budget. Giving in to kids’ demands is understandable – we’ve all done it – but it can wipe out the extra spending money that holidaymakers will have in their pockets this year, thanks to sterling’s gains against the euro and other European currencies.
“One way to reduce the cost is to pack kids’ gear in the suitcase to avoid buying these abroad. Our research showed that over two in five parents had to pay for items once they got to their resort because they forgot to pack them. On average we estimate they could save around £30 by squeezing jelly shoes, swimming goggles, last year’s lilo, and insect repellent and suncream from the bathroom cabinet into the suitcase.
“Another easy win is to buy currency before leaving home to avoid poor airport bureau rates. Plan how much you will need carefully and take enough foreign cash because changing money abroad is more expensive when bank charges are added. What’s more, changing over £500 in Post Office branches will get you a better rate.”
More than 8,500 Post Office bureaux de change branches offer euros over the counter while the Bulgarian lev and Turkish lira are among 25 currencies available on demand at 1,600 larger Post Office branches. Over 70 currencies can be pre-ordered at over 11,500 Post Office branches or online at postoffice.co.uk for next day branch or home delivery. Post Office Travel Money also offers a pre-paid euro Travel Money Card, which can be loaded before travel and used like plastic on holiday.