I predict the big winner this year will be Egypt alongside Turkey , but I have a feeling Turkey will hike up their prices in resort to take maximum benefit from the increased tourism. Is bulgaria Euro .If not they could do well. Also the cheaper long haul destinations but the dollar rate isnt too good now is it .

I think the city break market within the euro zone could suffer badly too., but whilst the likes of easyjet could suffer in their drive to fill planes they are making huge profit out of their snacks /drinks with the Europeans heading our way . As an example on our flight home from Rome a couple of days ago which was full of Italians coming this way, for an item costing £1 in english currency they were charging 1.50 euros and guess what currency all the Italians were carrying .

lynwestie wrote:

I predict the big winner this year will be Egypt

I concur, they're really onto a winner all round with currency and of course the best weather guaranteed!

I think the main winners will be Turkey and possibly Bulgaria amongst the self catering crowds simply because you'll get more for your money drinking and eating out here than you will in Euro zone countires. Having been to various Greek islands for the last 5 or so years I'm trying Turkey this year for that very reason.

I suspect that all inclusive bookings will be more popular this year in most of the Euro countries, which in turn will affect the restaurant, bar and shop owners in many resorts although thats a different story! AI has never appealled to me as I enjoy eating out each night at a different restaurant, going for an evening stroll stopping off at various bars along the way, rather than being confined to one complex, thats why I looked for an alternative destination rather than a different kind of package although I'm sure many will adopt the opposite approach.

For me the Greek Islands and Cyprus will be hit stronger than the likes of Spain and The Algarve because the price of flights to these places are more expensive. If you know that you are going to have to spend more in resort than you usually would do its only natural to try to find a destination you want to visit at as cheap a price as possible and this usually means Spain and Portugal because of the number of budget airlines flying to these countries.

Got to agree about the UK. Think we'll see increased tourist numbers visiting here which should hopefully contribute to us getting back on track.

Steve

I think anywhere that isnt Euroland will do OK.......Spain will have a serious wobble but will survive. People may now look further afield such as New Zealand or South Africa. More locally Eygpt and Turkey will come into their own. We are going to the Costa del Sol in September and booked an apartment that was costed in Sterling by the owners and threw in airport transfers included in the price!! so they will do better, but so many Brit owners are still pricing in Euro`s..sorry think they will have a lean time..

We are going to Cape Town and are pleasantly surprised with accomodation and day to day costs.
I do think a lot of folks will look beyond the Eurozone. The flight costs may seem expensive but you must take into account how much you are likely to spend each day. Those far flung places you thought you might visit "one day" may work out to the cost the same, or even less, as your Euro holiday.

Hi

I am booking my holiday to fuengirola on 23/01/09 got good deal with thomas cook, same hotel as last august. I am not lettingthis euro rubbish put me of going to spain, its my fave destination, and they need our money, the food will still be cheaper than uk, and also wine etc, as a hole it is still cheaper than holidaying in the horrible uk...egypt and turkey is to expensive had a look and some are asking for £900.£100 plus per person and thats bed and breakfast in olu denis, sharm etc...

Hi Kazza, I can't agree with you there. We went S/C to Costa Del Sol last March and found prices to be on a par (if not more) than what we're used to paying at home. We have booked to go back to Spain this Easter (Benidorm) but we're expecting prices to be reasonably high, when you take in the weak pound. Where a 3euro pint was bad enough last year = £2.40, this year it will probably be the equivalent of £3

I suppose it's still good value if you're living in London or the likes but where we're from in Wales we're not used to those prices.

Kazza,

Hopefully lots of people will have the same attitude as yourself otherwise there'll be plenty of resorts throughout Europe full of hotels, bars, shops and restaurants struggling to survive without the large numbers of British tourists they've become used to. I may yet find myself going to to one of these resorts later in the year if the rate picks up!

For me, I wouldn't want to cut down on anything I would normally do on holiday, but wouldn't be able to afford to have my 'normal' holiday without making certain cutbacks eg eating some meals in, drinking in the apartment etc which i wouldn't want to do, so opted for Turkey in the hope I'll still be able to do exactly what I would normally albeit in a different country.

Incidentally I don't think Turkey is that expensive. Me and my girlfriend got a week at the end of June self catering at a hotel that seems to get mainly good reviews, for less than £300 per person.

Definately agree with you about holidaying in the UK. If you could guarantee the weather I'd consider it but thats never going to happen!

I have only paid £335 for 2 weeks HB in Turkey in May,thats only £167.50 a week.I couldnt go anywhere in the UK for that,Except my caravan!

I think Turkey, Egypt and AI holidays in the Carribbean will be the winners. Have to agree with Shirley H, we found the Costa Del Sol very expensive last Easter.

We found Portugal to be very expensive in October. The bars and restaurants were still reasonably priced but the shops and markets were expensive. Suspect that the bars and restaurants will try to keep their prices down to entice people into their premises. We spent alot more money than we usually would on holiday but didn't let that stop us doing what we wanted to do. Going to Florida in October and just hope that things have picked up by then but if it hasn't we won't let that spoil our holiday.

We also went to Tunisia in October,very cheap to eat out,and for taxis,spent a lot less here than at our usual Benidorm and Turkey hols.

hi guys, well, I think the carribean is a great option AL . we have done d.i y for a few years now, but this year I decided to compare package holidays ( got a bit nervous about the collapse of xl ) .
we wanted to go 24th may ( whit week for schools ), package to costa del sol , which we love, cheapest was almost £300 each per week self catering, checked out jamaica , £400 each per week AL, with the euro being so low, we booked this deal to jamaica straight away !
worth checking out further afield, but I do realise not everyone wants a long flight or indeed the idea of all inclusive ( we haven't done AL in 9yrs, but the facilities for our 8yr old in the hotel are fantastic !)
so, sorry spain, we love you, but jamaica won !
cheers, juby

I saw a Travel programme the other night and the big winners so far have been Egypt, Turkey and AI on long haul destinations for anything outside Euro and Dollars.

Egypt is a great place to go and if you change your cash over there, the exchange rate is better than anything you get over here.

We are going to the Maldives on 4th march..and everything is in US $..which of course has an impact.
We are also going to Gozo in August and that is the one we are worried about because of the Euro...it means we will have less to spend.
We had booked both of these hols before the downturn in the economy and the value of the £. We will just have to tough it out.

Having been to Turkey last year, we didnt find it all that cheap, we were Full Board but did go out quite a bit and taxi fares, and drinks out soon mounted up, also Fethyie market was a waste of space, they just wouldn't budge on prices (greedy maybe ?) and I could get better quality and price in Asda etc.

But I guess it's all relative. Perhaps people need to do slightly different things, holiday at different times of the year (I know thats not always easy what with work and school) or go for 10 days instead of 14, if they still want to go to their favorite destination. Or maybe if they want an apartment/eating our hoilday, try to eating in their apartments every third night.

In some countrys, US for example midday lunch is a lot cheaper than evening dinner, even though you seem to get the same food. I'm not too keen on eating big in the middle of the day, but it may suit some folk.

I wonder if Tunisia and Morocco might also become popular again, as the flights are a lot shorter than Egypt and Turkey, and Tunisia has been in travel brochures for years so must have a well established tourist industry. Always fancied going there.

Doe

We priced up some Euro zone hols and came to the conclusion it would be better value to head back to the Far East. I see Thailand has been highlighted as one of the cheapest destinations to spend our money in, so providing they keep the airport open maybes its a return there, or maybe Bali if I can't get time off till later in the year.

I booked my Goa holiday yesterday and the travel agent told me Goa is very popular at the moment due to it being so cheap.

I agree with Goa, very competitive. Could be the year to go there.

Robby

oh nooo, its already started to increase in price since word got out how good it is

So i say Goa is not the place to go