Holidaymakers set to reap sterling benefits

Long haul destinations like South Africa, Dubai, Egypt and Mexico join Turkey, best value in Europe, as the countries where the pound will stretch further for UK holidaymakers this year.

According to a travel money survey by the Post Office, comparing currency movement trends in 16 destinations, sterling has gained ground in three-quarters of the countries surveyed over the past year.

The most marked growth has been in South Africa where sterling strengthened against the rand by nearly 21%.

Post Office Head of Travel Kevin McAdam said: “The continued growth of sterling is part of a long term trend that has seen the South African rand more than halve in value over the past decade. In that time demand for safaris, Garden Route tours and Cape Town breaks has mushroomed. Competitive pricing by hotels and safari operators makes South Africa a great draw for bargain hunters.”

With the continued fall in the value of the US dollar, shopping trips to New York remain a tempting prospect. But the Post Office survey suggests that shopoholics might also consider looking east to the shopping malls and souks of Dubai. This year the UK pound buys 11½ % more UAE dirhams than it did 12 months ago.

Second only to South Africa, Turkey remains a great ‘buy’ for people who are still considering where to holiday in Europe this year. Sterling is riding high against the Turkish lira and is now worth almost 13½% more than in 2006.

In the Euro Zone, which includes Spain, France and Greece, still top choices for many UK holidaymakers, sterling remains steady against the euro and marginally stronger than a year ago. Ironically the Post Office reports a drop in value for sterling against East European currencies at precisely the time when new flight routes are opening these countries up from UK regional airports.

However Kevin McAdam says that holidaymakers should not be deterred. “Sterling has dropped marginally against the Polish zloty and Czech koruna and rather more against the Hungarian forint. But when you consider that prices are so much cheaper in Eastern Europe, these emerging destinations are actually very good value.”

Britons planning a trip to next year’s Olympic Games in Beijing should keep a close eye on exchange rates for the Chinese yuan. Over the past year sterling has strengthened by almost 5% against the yuan.