Elsa Maishman (Reporter)
BRITS are being put off holidays in Spain by the pound’s drop in value.
More than 40% of Britons will change their holiday plans because of the post-Brexit devaluation, according to data from travel insurer Columbus Direct.
Holidaymakers converting £500 to euro will get £65 less than they would have done last year.
Because of this, up to eight million holidaymakers will opt for a ‘staycation’ rather than holidaying abroad.
Spain and the Eurozone is losing popularity generally as a destination, as Britons believe can get more value for their money in other countries such as Japan, Malaysia and Mexico.
I shall await the headline of “BRITISH TOURISM DOWN BY 40% IN SPAIN” during or at the end of the 2017 season.
Interesting that the Spanish hotel associations are predicting an INCREASE on last year with bookings up from the UK already.
This article is full of contradictions. If people can’t afford to visit Spain because of the poor exchange rate, they are hardly going to switch to a long haul holiday are they. Usually when money is tight, the cascade effect takes place and people just downgrade their travel plans slightly.
As always, when the tourist figures for the UK are published for 2017, Spain and France will top the list by a huge margin and only a fraction of people will have visited Japan, Malaysia and Mexico.
Malaysia?
But the price of the flight for a family of 4, from London to Kuala Lumpur round trip is +/- 3000 GBP.
Is that a good option for the impoverished British tourist?
Not to mention Japan.
And if you want a safer destination than Mexico, you can always choose Syria.
What a ridiculous article and why mention Spain? Surly if there was a molecule of truth in this it should have said Brits are put off holidays in the Euro zone because the value of the pound has plummeted…more gutter media skullduggery.
It is the week pound in the Global markets that has seen the pound plummet…I own a hotel and Activity centre here in Spain and my bookings are up on last year and it’s only February. So are people who are worried about money really going to go long haul pay the extra and head to say The States where the pound against the Dollar is at an embarrassing low and Trump has made the area a miserable place to be? ? No this is BS and actually gets posted every year to target the gullible British holiday makers who believe everything they read.
Mark,
your post is far too rational and objective.
I own a villa agency and our bookings for 2017 are more +25% on this time last year. Already we are turning people away.
What a crock of sush1t. Who thinks up this c.rap?
The value of Sterling has dropped world wide so no matter where they go in whatever direction, as soon as you set your foot off old Blighty you are getting less for your pound EVERYWHERE!
Spain offers the best of everything at considerably less than U.K. (once you’re willing to explore a little)
On the Costa del Sol you will easily get a good meal for 2 including a bottle of wine for €45 in beautiful surroundings with the sun forever in the background.
Yes it is going to cost more to leave the British shores but it will still be cheaper and exponentially more enjoyable to go to Spain, Italy, Greece etc. It’s that or stay in England on an umbrella & mac holiday!
Next idiotic statement from Elsa Maishman. Go to japan, Malaysia or Mexico!!!!
Sterling has equally lost value against the Japanese Yen, the Malaysian Ringgit and the Mexican Peso. So it will be more expensive to go there now than before. In fact, because of the higher actual cost for travel alone, it will be considerably greater than the extra cost to travel to Spain.
A flight only to Hong Kong in March is STG£1068!!! FLIGHT ONLY!!!!! .
This would cover flights accommodation AND spending money in Marbella.
If this is the best quality reporting Olive Press can produce it does not deserve any accolade as a reporting newspaper.
Elsa Maishman (Reporter)???
You need to change your title Elsa. I’m sure your a lovely lady but “reporter” you are not!
I would now also question the validity of the title “Editor” Jon Clark.
An editor would have read this before putting it in the paper and if you read it Jon you would have recognised it as unsubstantiated drivel.
Cutting and pasting information from Columbus Direct or any other minor source of information is not good reporting.
Was any research done? If you look at the Columbus Direct website there is only 258 reviews on the company and they may well be a great Travel Insurance company but with such a small following are they really a reliable source of statistics to publish in a newspaper?
Asinine reporting like this, no matter how incidental it may be, is damaging to business on the coast.
Businesses that you, the Olive Press, depend on for your livelihood and existence through the advertising fees from your clients.
Where it is annoying to read substantiatable and fact driven reports that can cause damage to the good impression of the Spanish lifestyle so may of us have come to enjoy (and earn a living from), it is absolutely infuriating to see total boloney like this that has the potential to cause damage!
Damage to the hard fought reputation of the place you earn your existance Olive Press.
Think about the consequences and check your facts before going to press!
Reporter??? Editor??? Was this just any old c.rap to fill a blank piece of newspaper???
Rant over.
The clue to this contradictory reporting may lie in the organisation quoting these prognostications.
They were made by a holiday insurance company, whose business will be the first trimming done by holidaymakers when they are looking for savings. Many people misguidedly fail to take out suitable cover already and unfortunately, insurance is an easy target when economising.
So, holidays? Yes. but covering ones backside? No.