Weaker pound fails to deter UK holidaymakers

UK households’ appetite for foreign travel has not been dented by the recent falls in the value of the pound, sales figures suggest.

Despite the poorer exchange rates generally available to travellers heading abroad, Post Office Travel Money said it had seen 46% growth in currencies sold online this month, compared with the same period in October 2015.

The Post Office, which accounts for one in four UK travel money transactions, said sales of the euro accelerated during September, to show a 14% year-on-year increase.

And, despite the weakening pound, US dollar sales were up 16% for 2016 as a whole, with “no sign” of a drop-off in demand, the Post Office said.

The figures, released as many families start booking their winter getaways, show the euro is the Post Office’s best-selling currency, with the US dollar in second place.

Andrew Brown, the Post Office’s head of travel money, said: “Our latest currency sales make it clear that the weaker pound has not dented UK holidaymakers’ appetite for travel so far.

“There is strong evidence that holidaymakers are planning travel abroad, even to those countries whose currencies have strengthened most against sterling.

“For example, we have seen very strong growth in demand for the Indonesian rupiah and yet sterling has fallen 24% in value over the past year.

“Similarly, sales of the Japanese yen have soared by 19% while sterling is down by 31% since last year.”

Looking at where the pound has lost the most ground against other currencies, the Post Office said the Brazilian real and the Russian ruble had made particularly strong gains in recent months.

Icelandic krona has made particularly strong gains against the pound recently, although it is among the Post Office’s fastest-growing currencies in terms of sales. Sales of Icelandic krona were up by 18% between January and September, compared with a year earlier.