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29 April 2014 by Alex Stewart
With sterling at its strongest for five years, travellers are discovering that they might have to go further to secure the best value for their pound.
A report by the economic forecasting group the Ernst & Young ITEM Club, has identified that sterling has risen in value against all of the 27 currencies against which the Bank of England records data.
This discovery is good news for travellers in general but is especially good for long-haul travellers, as a number of key destinations, including Australia, South Africa, Canada and the USA are relatively less expensive; visitors to Australia and South Africa will find that this year £1 buys around 25% rand and Australian dollars than 12 months ago.
Closer to home the picture isn't quite as favourable. However, people planning holidays in Europe or looking at short-haul trips will still find that sterling has improved 2.5% against the Euro since last year and a much less modest 30% against the Turkish lira.
However, if the UK economy continues to enjoy relatively strong growth then sterling should rise further against the single currency, meaning that travellers this year have a wide variety of destinations to choose from when it comes to ensuring the best spending power of the pound.