News & views

26 September 2008

Far East offers better value for UK half term holidaymakers

The Far East is set to be the half term getaway destination for cash conscious UK travellers looking for a sunshine holiday where their pounds will go further according to First Rate Exchange Services.

Gordon Gourlay, Managing Director, First Rate said “Throughout 2008 sterling has dropped in value against almost every currency¹, so half term holidaymakers who want to get more for their money may be looking to the Far East, which offers competitively priced packages combined with lower costs in resorts compared to European winter sun destinations.”

Gourlay’s comments are in response to the production of the first winter sun Holiday Costs Barometer² by the Post Office^® – First Rate is the wholesaler behind the Post Office^®’s market leading foreign currency services.

The Post Office^®’s Holiday Costs Barometer found that east beats west this year as families hit by the credit crunch will find holiday spending costs in Jamaica (£71.29) almost twice as expensive as in Malaysia (£37.98). At under £34 for 10 holiday commodities, including drinks and meals out, Thailand weighed in at less than half the cost in Cyprus, the newest eurozone member.

Most expensive in the survey was Barbados (£126.89) – 78 per cent more for the 10 holiday items than sister island Jamaica. However, the survey found that the total was inflated by the high cost of eating out. At around £104 for an evening meal, this was at least twice as expensive as any of the other destinations surveyed, largely because restaurant meals on the island are generally taken within hotel complexes.

Meanwhile resort prices are on the rise in Egypt and Turkey. In April 2008 the annual Post Office^® Holiday Costs Barometer, which compares prices in top eurozone holiday spots with competitors outside the zone, identified the two countries as offering some of the best value. Since then the ‘shopping basket’ of 10 holiday items has shot up by 24 per cent in Egypt and 21 per cent in Turkey – even though the drop in the value of sterling since April is only seven per cent and nine per cent respectively.

Despite this, Egypt and Turkey are leading a boom in business for mid-haul destinations and are expected to figure strongly in the half term market. The perception of good value combined with the fact that they will suffer relatively less from airline fuel surcharges than destinations further afield, is likely to make them popular half term choices.”

That prediction is shared by long haul operator Hayes & Jarvis, which said that mid-haul holidays to the Middle East and Egypt now account for almost one third of autumn bookings, up from just over one-fifth last year. It has also seen signs of late demand, with families looking to shave pounds off the cost of a holiday by booking at the last minute.

In Europe, holiday operator Sovereign reported that late demand for October half term is “really strong.” Managing Director Steph Pritchard said there are great savings to be made by families with “exceptional added value offers” in hotels in the Canaries and Cyprus.

And, although sterling has slipped against the US dollar in recent weeks, according to First Rate the Post Office^®’s currency sales were up 21 per cent in September – indicating a resilient demand for holidays to the USA. That view is endorsed by Florida specialist Jetsave, which said that the USA’s perceived value for money is keeping business buoyant – particularly in the self-catering villa section, where families can control their spending more easily.

First Rate provides foreign currency retailers with a wide range of foreign exchange services, from currency stock provisioning to fully white-labelled ordering solutions. Its Travel Money Online service provides a fully integrated online platform, allowing retailers the ability to offer travellers online access to Thai bahts, US dollars and over 70 other currencies, as well as traveller’s cheques, currency guidance and a secure online payment service.

Note to Editors:

¹ Post Office^® Year-on-year currency movements

Currency	% +/- 2008 v. 2007	23 Sep 2008	23 Sep 2007
1. South African rand	3.84	13.75	13.22
2. Kenyan shilling	-1.56	122.36	124.27
3. Jamaican dollar	-6.94	119.09	127.36
4. US dollar	-9.12	1.73	1.89
5. Barbados dollar	-9.40	3.36	3.68
6. Turkish lira	-9.88	2.13	2.34
7. Thai baht	-10.48	56.68	62.62
8. Malaysian ringgit	-10.70	5.89	6.52
9. Egyptian pound	-13.17	8.91	10.08
10. Mauritius rupee	-14.91	48.41	55.63
11. Euro	-16.56	1.17	1.36

² Post Office^® Half Term Holiday Cost Barometer provides prices for 10 items, using data supplied by tourist offices of participating countries. Its brief calls for the lowest average resort prices for each item and the Post Office^® is reliant on the accuracy of information received from tourist authorities.

ITEMS	THAILAND	MALAYSIA	SOUTH AFRICA	KENYA	EGYPT	TURKEY
Cup of coffee Bar/café	£1.01	£0.47	£0.87	£1.74	£1.07	£1.64
Bottle of Heineken Bar/café	£1.59	£2.04	£1.16	£1.16	£1.40	£3.52
Bottle/can of Coca-Cola Bar/café	£0.71	£0.34	£0.65	£0.58	£0.84	£1.17
Bottle of mineral water Supermarket	£0.44	£0.85	£0.51	£1.16	£0.90	£0.59
Suncream (factor 15) Supermarket	£2.65	£5.52	£4.36	£2.32	£3.37	£10.33
Postcard & stamp for UK Tourist shop	£0.35	£0.32	£0.47	£1.74	£0.45	£0.88
Insect repellent Supermarket	£2.65	£1.44	£1.45	£1.74	£1.63	£2.47
Pack of Marlboro Lights cigarettes	£0.88	£1.19	£1.55	£1.74	£1.01	£2.63
English tabloid newspaper	£1.50	£0.34*	£2.18	£0.29	£2.81	£2.39
3 course evening meal (including bottle of house wine) in a local restaurant	£22.05	£25.47	£32.73	£34.81	£44.91	£37.57
TOTAL COSTS	£33.83	£37.98	£45.93	£47.28	£58.39	£63.19

ITEMS	USA	TENERIFE	MAURITIUS	JAMAICA	CYPRUS	BARBADOS
Cup of coffee Bar/café	£1.73	£0.77	£1.24	£1.68	£3.43	£1.78
Bottle of Heineken Bar/café	£2.89	£1.29	£1.55	£1.43	£2.14	£2.08
Bottle/can of Coca-Cola Bar/café	£1.73	£0.86	£1.03	£0.67	£1.71	£0.89
Bottle of mineral water Supermarket	£1.32	£0.73	£0.41	£0.59	£0.64	£2.02
Suncream (factor 15) Supermarket	£5.48	£9.43	£4.13	£6.30	£11.57	£5.04
Postcard & stamp for UK Tourist shop	£0.73	£0.77	£1.03	£1.13	£0.38	£0.82
Insect repellent Supermarket	£4.04	£3.43	£2.07	£5.54	£9.43	£1.25
Pack of Marlboro Lights cigarettes	£2.19	£2.14	£2.07	£4.20	£3.30	£3.73
English tabloid newspaper	£2.89	£2.14	£0.41	£3.57	£0.86	£5.23
3 course evening meal (including bottle of house wine) in a local restaurant	£40.42	£42.85	£51.64	£46.18	£40.71	£104.05
TOTAL COSTS	£63.42	£64.41	£65.58	£71.29	£74.17	£126.89

Source: Post Office^®. Data relates to exchange rates on 23 September 2008.

* Local English language newspaper price as UK newspapers are not widely available.

³ Seven night package prices costing from around £699 per person for a good grade of accommodation are common in Thailand, according to long haul tour operator Hayes & Jarvis.

About First Rate Foreign Exchange Services:

First Rate is the UK’s leading provider of foreign currency services supplying over 12,000 retail outlets with a foreign currency service. It is the UK’s biggest foreign currency notes supplier and Europe’s major provider of traveller’s cheques and in the top five globally. First Rate sources currency through its associate business unit Bank of Ireland First Currency Services, one of the world’s leading wholesale currency operations.

First Rate can provide UK retailers and businesses with the following foreign currency services:

• Travel Money Online – a service enabling the ordering of foreign currency notes and traveller’s cheques securely via First Rate’s white label internet application
• Bulk provision of currency for currency retailers
• End-to-end consumer order processing – totally outsourced, white label currency solutions for phone, internet or retail outlet order placement

To find out more visit www.firstrate.co.uk.

For further information, please contact:

Four Countries Communications
Ruth Barker
Tel: 0207 749 9219
Mobile: 07814 571128
Email: ruth@fourcountries.co.uk

Bank of Ireland UK Financial Services
Sandra Grandison
Tel: 0207 634 3477
Mobile: 07912 298013
Email: sandra.grandison@boiuk.com