Travel bookings up as pound strengthens

The travel market is experiencing a boost as sterling strengthens against the dollar, according to research by the UK’s largest independent travel retailer.

The Co-operative Travel has reported a boom in bookings on holidays to Florida.

Analysis of over 380,000 holiday bookings reveals that Florida holiday bookings are up 49 per cent compared to last year at the beginning of June.

The retailer’s analysis shows that in the same period the pound rose significantly in value against the dollar, from $1.48 to $1.65 (a rise of over 11 percent).

“Understandably the holiday market is much more price sensitive than in recent years, but still this responsiveness to exchange rates is remarkable,” commented Co-operative Travel director of retail distribution Trevor Davis.

“If the pound continues to rally against foreign currencies, we believe this upward trend will continue,” he added.

While holiday bookings to eurozone countries continue to stagnate, late bookings to Egypt are up 25 per cent on 2008, while bookings to Turkey have remained the same despite the tougher trading conditions.

by travelbite.co.uk staff