£2500

Holiday Money

This report considers how consumers arrange to pay for things when they holiday abroad. In 2010, UK residents made over 36 million holiday trips abroad, spending in total £22 billion when overseas on food, drink, accommodation, leisure, etc. Knowing how this £22 billion of spending power was transferred overseas is a significant issue for the banking and financial services industry and the UK economy as a whole.

When consumers venture overseas, they face a number of problems surrounding how best to take money with them (notes, travellers' cheques or card, for example) and how to budget for their overseas spending and estimate the correct amount of spending power to take abroad.

This report assesses how consumers plan for the money they need on their holiday, in what format they take their money abroad and how they decide on the best source of foreign currency, travellers' cheques and payment cards.

Over 20 questions were asked in total, covering the following topics:

  • Type of holiday taken in the past year
  • Perceptions consumers have of the various means of taking holiday money overseas
  • Actions consumers normally take when they holiday abroad
  • How consumers paid for things when going overseas
  • Where and when foreign exchange/travellers' cheques/cash cards are arranged
  • How well those using foreign exchange/travellers' cheques/cash cards understand these products when buying
  • Whether consumers search around for the best foreign currency/travellers' cheques/cash card deals before using a particular provider
  • How long before travelling consumers first arrange their foreign currency/travellers' cheques
  • How consumers use their credit cards overseas
  • Source(s) consumers always or normally use for finding information on holiday money
  • How consumers budget for spending money on a holiday abroad before they leave the UK
  • How well consumers stick to their budget.

To download a table of contents for this report, click here.

To buy the Holiday Money report, click here.