Majority of Britons keen to travel abroad, despite weak pound

Despite the relative weakness of the pound, many Britons will still look to travel overseas over the remainder of 2009, experts believe.

Recent research carried out by Wanderlust in partnership with AITO found that 72 per cent of consumers expected to spend at least as much money on their travels in 2009 as they did in 2008.

Around the same proportion expressed an intention to head overseas at least once this year, despite currency fluctuations and the weakening value of the pound.

Marc Cogliatti, currency strategist at HiFX, explained that economic worries are still failing to make a major impact on people's travel choices.

"People are always going to be inclined to go abroad. Everybody likes to chase the sunshine and get away," he said.

"Currency will be a little bit of a factor and the fact that the pound has been so weak does add to the overall costs, but I'm not necessarily sure that it's enough to put the vast majority of Brits off going away."

The comments come soon after World First chief economist Jeremy Cook warned that the value of the pound against the euro may get worse over the next few months.

Posted by Andrea, 17 August 2009 14:44

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