Britons head beyond eurozone on holiday

Popular choices this summer include Kenya, South Africa, China and Indonesia.

Travel Insurance News - 07/09/2009

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According to a study released by the Post Office last week, increasing numbers of Britons are booking breaks to longer-haul destinations to find good holiday value. UK holidaymakers have travelling to Kenya in growing numbers – a country that saw its tourism sector collapse due to the riots that followed elections there in December of 2007. For the period of June to August of this year, sales of the Kenyan shilling were up by 73 per cent, as compared with the same three-month period in 2008.

Reduced-price package holidays to Asian destinations such as Bali and Thailand have seen the sales those countries’ currencies rise this summer by 54 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively. This past week travel company Hayes & Jarvis featured a two-holiday at a beachfront hotel in the seaside resort of Cha-am, Thailand, for just £549 – which included the return airfare.

China is starting to see a return on its investment for hosting the Olympics. This summer Britons have purchased 27 per cent more yuan than they did a year ago, when hotel rates in Beijing rose to an all time high. Eighty per cent of the major currency increases were for long-haul destinations.

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