Weakened British Pound Costs UK Summer Holidaymakers an Expected £1.1 billion

• finder forecasts Brits will take over 15 million trips overseas this summer
• Weakened pound expected to cost Brits over £1.1 billion extra on international trips this summer alone
• 44 of 48 countries that Brits will visit this summer will be on average 11.95% more expensive
• finder identifies top 10 countries Brits will be travelling to and how much extra they’re expected to fork out

Thinking of heading overseas to soak up the sun in Spain or eat your way through Italy? Be warned – since Brexit, the British pound has fallen on average 11.95%, meaning you’ll be paying extra when transferring your pounds over.

Since the referendum result was announced on June 24 last year, the pound has been heading downhill across most currencies, which means it’s likely to cost more to convert pounds into foreign currencies. Financial comparison site, finder, has found out exactly how this will affect Brits heading overseas this summer.

Following analysis of the past two years’ data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), finder research has found that Brits are expected to be paying over £1.1 billion more on summer holidays this year compared to 2016.*

The Top Travel Destinations

This summer, Brits will be taking over 15.08 million trips overseas. Most of the top ten travel destinations are within Europe and use the Euro, where the pound has fallen 11% since pre-Brexit.

Spain remains the UKs favourite summer holiday destination, with an expected 4.68 million Brits heading to Spain’s sunny shores in June-August. Those travelling to Spain this summer are likely to fork out over £307.7 million extra this year.

For a family of four travelling to Spain, for example, the weakened pound will cost an extra £264 (or £66 per person) when compared to last year’s spend. This is based on an average spend of £2,458 (£614 per person)*.

The second most visited destination, France, will cost two million British visitors over £116.9 million extra this summer.

In fact, 44 of the 48 countries that Brits visit will be more expensive this summer compared to last year; by a whopping 11.95% on average.

finder has collated a list of the top 10 summer holiday destinations for Brits, illustrating increased spend per person for each.

UK’s Top 10 Summer Destinations and Expected Extra Costs

(For the full report, including complete list of the 48 countries, please click here).

Source: finder.com/uk, Office of National Statistics, xe.com

finder UK CEO, Jon Ostler, says: “Summer is the most popular time to travel abroad, so this increase in cost, most likely from the Brexit fallout, will affect millions of British families. As such, it’s more important than ever to make sure you’re shopping around to find the best possible deals on hotels, flights, and travel money, to make sure your annual summer break won’t end in debt.”

“The cost of transferring money abroad and converting to foreign currencies can vary significantly between providers, so it’s important to compare money transfer providers on their fees as well as their exchange rates.”

What Can Brits Do to Lessen the Cost?

• Shop around for the best deals on hotels and flights. Look into holiday packages, as these can often be cheaper
• Research into travel money. Travellers cheques are becoming less used, but your options can include a travel money card or getting cash sent to you via post
• Compare money transfer providers. Make sure to check their fees, as well as their exchange rates

finder has used a 2017 forecast to calculate the number of Brits expected to travel overseas this summer, and to which country, based on ONS data of the number of UK resident holiday visits abroad in 2015 and 2016. The team also captured the spending figures for each year and calculated the amount of money spent, per person, for each country in each month. Currency rates from June 1 last year were then compared to now (collected on May 29, 2017). Please see below for full methodology.

For more information on finder or to compare travel money providers, please visit www.finder.com/uk/travel-money

-Ends-

Notes to editors:

• CEO of finder UK, Jon Ostler, is available for comment, opinion or interview on what people can do to save that little bit extra for their summer holiday so they don’t fall into debt.
• Images to accompany the story are available on request.

*finder ‘summer holiday spend’ research methodology:

• We collected raw data from the Office of National Statistics, UK Residents Visits Abroad reports from 2016 and 2015, including the number of Brits who travelled overseas for a holiday and by country, as well as total spend by country
• We determined the number of people travelling to each country per month by first breaking down quarterly collective figures into monthly totals, and then applied the 2016 country proportions of the total to the monthly figures
• A monthly forecast for 2017 was calculated based on each month’s growth of 2016 from 2015 figures
• We then combined figures from June, July and August 2017 to calculate the summer forecast of total holiday visits per country
• To find the average holiday spend per person and totals per country:
  • We took the total holiday spend per quarter from the 2015 and 2016 ONS data, and broke it down by month for each
  • We then calculated the growth rate to find the forecasted numbers for 2017
  • From the monthly data, we combined the June-August figures to find the average and total spend for summer
  • We then calculated the average of each person, by each month and by country
• Based on the average holiday spend, we calculated the difference in cost by converting this spend into each currency on June 1, 2016 and May 29, 2017, using xe.com
• We applied this to the total forecast of people visiting each country and total holiday visits during summer

For further press information:
Aaryn Vaughan/Yasmine Triana /Julie Aguilera
Rooster PR
T: +44 (0)20 3440 8930
E: [email protected]

About finder
finder, Australia’s #1 comparison site, launched in the UK in February 2017.

Founded in 2006, finder has over three million MUUs and has helped consumers make 15 million decisions over the past decade.

finder is entirely independent, offering consumers unbiased content, comparisons and, wherever possible, a full market view.

So much more than just a comparison site, finder provides in depth guides, advice and editorial content to help consumers better understand all the options and products available.

Committed to educating and empowering consumers to make informed choices and ultimately, to make savings, finder’s success is based on the provision of up to date and relevant information supplied by dedicated, round the clock research teams.

Categories currently available in the UK include money transfers, travel money, gas & electricity, mobile, broadband, and TV streaming. New products (including insurance, credit cards, loans, mortgages and pensions) will be rolled out over the coming months.

Currently operating in four countries – Australia, New Zealand, USA and the UK – with an annual turnover of £29 million, finder employs over 120 staff and aims to increase global presence to 10 countries in the next 12 months.