More Britons 'seeking travel bargains'

Wednesday April 22nd , 2009

More British tourists are waiting until the last minute before travelling to countries like Cyprus and Turkey, new studies suggest.

Research from Visa Europe shows that travel agent debit card transactions remained largely static in the first three months of 2009.

Fiona Wilkinson, senior vice-president at Visa Europe, says that Britons are looking to spend on smaller luxuries rather than rushing into big investments.

She commented: "Holidaymakers could be waiting until the last minute and hoping to find cheap deals this year."

A separate study by the travel information firm On the Beach finds that 43 per cent of Britons are still planning to stick with their favourite European destinations, despite the global economic downturn.

However, the report also claims that 57 per cent of people will be looking to rent properties in Turkey and other non-euro countries this summer to take advantage of stronger conversion rates.