Menu
Save, make, understand money

Household Bills

Steep decline in sale of Egyptian Pound as Brits buy UAE Dirham instead

Written By:
Guest Author
Posted:
19/04/2016
Updated:
19/04/2016

Guest Author:
Paloma Kubiak

Brits are changing their holiday habits as Asda Money data shows there has been a 68% decrease in sales of the Turkish Lira and a 77% decrease in sales of the Egyptian Pound.

While this shows a decline in popularity for Turkey and Egypt over the past year, there has been an increase in passengers heading to destinations such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Thailand and the Czech Republic.

In the past year, Asda Money has seen an 84% rise in sales of the UAE Dirham, a 96% increase in sales of the Thai Baht and a 93% rise in sales of the Czech Koruna.

This is despite the exchange rates for these destinations having decreased year-on-year as the British Pound is down 5% to the UAE Dirham, and the Czech Koruna by 11% meaning holiday-makers aren’t getting as much bang for their buck compared to a year ago.

But some currencies have soared in value over the past two years.

The Russian Rouble has increased in value by 66% over the past two years while the Brazilian Real would have given holidaymakers a 36% boost in value now compared to 2014.

Sponsored

Wellness and wellbeing holidays: Travel insurance is essential for your peace of mind

Out of the pandemic lockdowns, there’s a greater emphasis on wellbeing and wellness, with

Sponsored by Post Office

Neil Foster head of Asda Travel Money said: Our customers don’t seem put off by the poor exchange rates for certain countries. This suggests a shift in appetite for holiday destinations. Families do still need to consider getting the best value for money to the increasingly popular holiday hot spots, even when exchange rates aren’t at their best.”

The Asda Travel Money data also revealed Euro currency purchases are slightly behind compared to last year. This can be attributed to unusually high currency sales last year due to the strong pound against the Euro, and customers forward buying to secure the rates.

Foster added that customers are holding off getting their Euros while they wait to see whether the rate will improve.

Asda currency sale

Asda Money is holding its first online and in-store rate sale on all currencies until 8am on Friday 22 April.

You can order your travel money online or over the phone and you can pick it up free from 135 locations including any of the 122 Asda Money Travel Bureaux nationwide.

For orders over £500+, you can choose to get it delivered free, under this amount the fee charged is £3.95.