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British skiers hit hard by sliding sterling

Paloma Kubiak
Written By:
Paloma Kubiak
Posted:
Updated:
11/03/2016

British skiers and snowboarders heading to popular destinations this winter will lose out as sterling continues to weaken on the back of Brexit uncertainty, figures reveal.

The value of sterling has dropped by between 0.8% and 10.1% against nine popular ‘ski currencies’ over the past year, including the euro, Swiss franc and the Canadian dollar.

A survey by global currency firm Centtrip revealed that 87% of people who plan to hit the slopes claim they’ll spend over £1,000 while abroad, while 43% believe they’ll shell out more than £2,000.

The difference in value on £1,000 in local currency could see you lose between £7.74 and £112.53 based on last year’s exchange rates.

However, sterling has actually strengthened against the Norwegian krone by 3.1%, which means exchanging £1,000 will net you an extra £30.07.

YMoney SterlingTable

Centtrip is urging travellers to choose the most efficient way to buy their foreign currency as the average foreign exchange spread on debt, credit and prepaid currency cards when buying euros is 2.44%, 2.21% and 2.82% respectively.

When buying £5,000 of euros, this could add an average cost of around £163 when using a debit card and £150 on credit card.

Tony North, co-founder and co-CEO of Centtrip, said: “The current uncertainty around whether the UK will stay in or leave the EU is leading to increased volatility around sterling, and those Brits going skiing or snowboarding now are likely to have less spending power than they did a year ago.

“However, you can offset the fall in the value of sterling by making sure that you buy your foreign currency in the most cost effective and transparent way possible, and start by finding a service that does not include hidden fees.”

Asda currency sale

Until 8am Friday 11 March, Asda Money is running an online sale on all currencies, which can be picked up free from 135 locations, including 122 Asda Money Travel Bureaux.