Holding the folding : UK prefers cash over plastic on holiday
Holidaymakers are set to splash the cash overseas with bumper currency sales of GBP2.3 billion forecast for this year according to a new Post Office® report. In fact, one in every fifteen pounds of the total GBP34 billion spent overseas this year will be bought from the Post Office®.
Launched today, the report shows cash is still the UK’s number one way to pay abroad. Almost half (47 per cent) prefer to use local currency compared to 33.6 per cent who prefer to “put it on the plastic” using their debit or credit card.
Although Traveller’s Cheques are still popular with 19 per cent of holidaymakers, as plastic becomes more popular they are slowly declining, with sales dropping by almost 12 per cent last year. Despite this, euro Travellers’ Cheque sales grew by 7.7 per cent last year .
Kevin McAdam, Head of Travel and Leisure, Post Office®: “With so many places now offering commission-free deals and competitive rates, hard currency is unbeatable for convenience and value-for-money. And with budget airlines flying to even more destinations, we are seeing demand for a wider range of foreign currencies for different countries, especially Eastern Europe.”
As travellers venture more and more outside the European Union on holiday, new currencies such as the Czech Koruna and Polish Zloty have climbed into the Post Office®’s top twenty currencies chart. The Czech Koruna has secured seventh place and the Polish Zloty 17th place. The euro and US Dollar still top the charts in first and second place with a 78.2 per cent and 11.5 per cent market share.
Kevin McAdam added: “Customers now want more flexibility from their holiday money and are supplementing cash with convenient and secure alternatives such as pre-paid currency cards. In fact, our report shows that these are already the favourite way to pay for more than 150,000 holidaymakers.”
Ends
Research carried out by Experian in May 2006. Results are weighted to the profile of all UK adults. Experian is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Further information at www.experian.co.uk
For further information please contact:
Cohn & Wolfe
Joanna Agnew
020 7331 5466
[email protected]
Michelle Curley
020 7331 5389
[email protected]
Post Office Ltd
Hayley Fowell
020 7250 2417
[email protected]
About Post Office® travel services
Post Office® travel services provides great value travel insurance, commission-free foreign currency, a passport application Check & Send service, passport photos, international money transfers, holiday phone cards, EHIC application forms and an EHIC Check & Send service, and huge savings on car-hire and pre-booked holiday extras.
The Post Office® is the largest bureau de change provider in the UK with more than 25% market share, offering over 78 different currencies with 0% commission on all foreign currency and Travellers’ Cheques transactions.
