Holidaymakers planning in advance to boost budgets, WeSwap study finds

Holidaymakers planning in advance to boost budgets, WeSwap study finds

Travel Index estimates that 11m Brits will spend more than 21% of disposable income on holidays Continue reading

Holidaymakers are planning further in advance to get the most out of their budgets, a study by P2P currency exchange firm WeSwap has found.

Its Travel Index estimates that around 11 million Brits, more than a quarter of the 40.8 million expected holidaymakers in the country this year, will spend more than 21% of disposable income on holidays.

Around 5.8 million people will spend 31% of disposable income and 3.4% will spend 41% of their spare cash on getaways.

But holidaymakers are becoming “more savvy”, WeSwap has found. It’s data shows 40% of travellers are planning their trips in advance to allow better management of their funds.

One in ten holidaymakers are also looking for alternative ways to exchange money, the survey found. Of those customers that have moved over to WeSwap, 46% used to exchange at high street foreign exchange bureaus, 28% used debit cards and 20% credit cards.

The company says it has saved its customers £5 million in 2017 with £120 million worth of swaps completed – double the amount exchanged on the platform in 2016.

Survey respondents were also asked how much they are expecting to spend per trip. The number of people looking to spend more than £750 per trip rose from 15.5 million last year to nearly 18 million this year and the number of people expecting to spend more than £1,500 per holiday has gone up from 5.9 million to 7.9 million when comparing last year to this year.

Jared Jesner, chief executive of WeSwap, said: “The Travel Index has provided some really interesting results – the fact that the nation loves holidays is of course well known, however understanding how this passion converts to actual consumer spend for 2018 is significant. It’s great to see that such a vast proportion of Brits are keen to travel further afield and showing a real commitment to international adventures.

“Equally, with so many travellers planning in advance and looking at alternatives to get the most out of their travel budgets, it’s clear we’re becoming a much more savvy nation of holidaymakers when it comes to maximising our travel money. Having saved WeSwappers more than £5 million in 2017, we look forward to continuing to help more Brits better manage and utilise their adventure funds this year.”