Britons shun eurozone sunspots and head for Bournemouth and Bodrum
The British seaside is proving a popular holiday destination this year, with a weak pound and stretched finances forcing more people to stay in Britain. But many people are still escaping the wet and windy British summer to sunnier climes – outside the increasingly expensive eurozone.
The strength of the euro is putting many holidaymakers off traditional European destinations such as Spain and Greece. The pound is now worth €1.27, 20% less than a year ago. Turkey and Egypt have become the new hot spots, seeing the biggest rises in bookings this year. Croatia, Bulgaria and Tunisia are also popular. Outside the eurozone, Bulgaria has emerged as the cheapest European destination.
For late summer bookings, Turkey – in particular the Dalaman area which offers sea and mountains – has come out top, according to new figures compiled by Co-operative Travel for The Guardian. The Co-op’s Trevor Davis described this as “a seismic shift in holiday bookings, as Spain has been the UK’s number one choice since the package holiday began”.
The number of Britons visiting Turkey this year has jumped by a fifth to 1.7 million, according to the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA). Egypt has seen an even bigger increase of 28%, attracting 600,000 holidaymakers.
By contrast, Spain and Greece are showing flat growth – though Spain remains by far the biggest destination, with 14 million Britons going there every year. Greece attracts 2.5 million holidaymakers from Britain.
Thomas Cook has seen its summer bookings to Turkey and Egypt increase by 15% from last year. A family of four will pay £1,516 for a week in a self catering apartment in Dalaman with Thomson (owned by TUI) – or £2,141 for the same deal at Alykanas village apartments in Zante, Greece. And a Hilton hotel stay for two in Majorca, Spain, will set you back £206.54 a night, compared with £107.24 in Mersin, Turkey.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics released this week show that Britons’ trips to the eurozone were flat in the three months to June – the only destination that showed no growth.
At the same time, demand is growing for domestic breaks, with UK bookings up 16% this summer from last year and hotel-only bookings surging by 40%, according to lastminute.com.
The British seaside is seeing record numbers of bookings: Brighton is up 70%, Bournemouth 20% and Eastbourne 66%.
“The Brits are taking another look at holidaying at home because of the economic climate,” said Sian Brenchley at Visit Britain. Customers are booking more add-ons with their hotels – theme parks, theatre and music tickets. Such packages have seen 18% growth compared to last year, according to lastminute.com.
