Best value holiday destinations to beat the credit crunch

Those looking to find a great value holiday with a bit of adventure this year should definitely consider Iceland, as their money will now stretch more than 40% further than last summer. This is due to the collapse to the Icelandic krona, pushing this holiday spot to the top of the annual Post Office Travel Services’ Best Value Holiday Destinations report.

Another surprising runner up is Poland, with the pound now worth almost 19% more than last year, which makes this destination a great holiday option this year.

Hungary also joins Iceland and Poland as the only destinations in Europe offering British tourists more holiday currency for sterling this year.  But the pound has dropped in value by less than 3% in many other destinations as well.  

For example, the Czech Republic and Turkey offer a good selection of bargains – rated by the Post Office’s Holiday Costs Barometer survey of tourist staples as one of the best buys available this year.

Turkey is fast becoming this year's top UK holiday choice – with a 60% year-on-year increase in Post Office currency sales based on data taken from the last 5 weeks.  

Holidaymakers that wish to travel further afield may want to consider Jamaica and Kenya, currently rating as top contenders for tourists as sterling is currently matching the value against these currencies from 2008. Impressive discounts on holiday packages could be the reason behind sales of Kenyan shillings which were up 97% in May and both destinations fall in Top 10 Fastest Growing Currencies at the Post Office.  

However, a number of counties that were in the top ten countries from last year’s Best Value Destinations are now sitting at the bottom of the table.  For example, the USA has fallen from fourth to 17th place as a result of the dollar now worth over 20% more than this time last year. This is the same scenario among many other ‘dollar destinations’ such as Dubai, Hong Kong and the East Caribbean are ranked lower too as these countries currencies are affected by the state of the dollar.

Despite this, data gathered from currency sales indicate that some of these destinations are still in demand – with the East Caribbean dollar for destinations which include St. Lucia and Antigua are currently second only to Kenya in the latest Post Office Fastest Growing Currencies table.

Sarah Munro, Post Office head of travel services said: “Our spending power may not be what it was last year but when you look back to 2002 - when trips to the USA were as popular as they have been recently - it is clear that a similar rate, around US$1.43 to £1m, did not deter UK holidaymakers from crossing the pond.”

“Holidaymakers looking for best value should choose destinations where they can get more for their pounds.  These include Iceland,which has been expensive to visit in the past, as well as Turkey and Kenya, rated as best buys in our cost of living surveys.  But they should not waste these savings by buying currency at the airport, where they will pay commission and get a poor rate.”