Hotels.com Reports Brits Looking Beyond the Eurozone as Pound
Plummets
Released
on: September 25, 2009, 4:07 am
Author: Hotels.com
Industry: Travel
Hotels.com
has revealed that the plummeting pound has prompted a rush amongst
British travellers to look for a getaway beyond the major Eurozone
destinations. With the Euro almost at parity with the pound, the
cost of a holiday in many continental cities has spiralled for
Brits heading abroad.
Hotels.com,
the leading online accommodation website, has seen a surge in
searches for breaks in cities where the pound remains relatively
strong against local currencies, as travellers look to make their
money go further.
The
steepest increase in searches came in the Moroccan city of Marrakech.
As the pound has sunk, searches for hotels in the city are up
by 250%. Searches for Reykjavik hotels have risen 60% while searches
for Istanbul are up by one fifth.
What's
more, according to the Hotels.com Hotel Price Index*, all but
one of these destinations - Istanbul - have seen the average cost
of a hotel room fall, some by as much as 29%, meaning that many
travellers are seeing now as a great time to bag an overseas bargain
without having to venture too far from home.
Alison
Couper, Director of Communications at Hotels.com, said: "There
has never been a better time for Brits to explore cities that
they might think are off the beaten track. Why not swap Paris
for Prague or sample Reykjavik over Rome to escape the falling
pound and see holiday budgets stretch a bit further?
"Meantime,
for travellers who do want to head to the major culture capitals
of the Eurozone, there are still some fantastic deals to be found.
While the exchange rates might not be in our favour, there are
still bargains out there as hoteliers look to fill their rooms,
with savings of up to 40% on hotels in Europe."
-ENDS-
Notes to the editor
* The Hotels.com Hotel Price Index (HPI) tracks the real prices
paid per hotel room (rather than advertised rates) for 78,000
hotels across 13,000 locations around the world. The latest HPI
looks at prices from January to June 2009, compared to the same
period in 2008.
About
Hotels.com:
As part of the Expedia group which operates in all major markets,
Hotels.com offers more than 100,000 quality hotels, B&Bs and
serviced apartments worldwide including New
York hotels, Edinburgh
hotels, along with a wide selection of hotels
in Dublin and hotels
in London.
PR
Contact:
Cordy Griffiths
Hotels.com
42 Earlham St
Covent Garden
London
WC2H 9LA
020 7019 2268
www.hotels.co.uk