LONDON, ENGLAND, September 26, 2009
/24-7PressRelease/ -- 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.
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