Expedia: Transatlantic trips to the UK soaring
The number of US travelers heading across the pond to the UK has soared thanks to the weakness of the British pound.
Expedia reported an 80% Brexit bump in summer bookings from the US made between January and March, compared to the same time last year.
"The best deals on air fares are coming from the US into the UK. We’re seeing discounts of 20% to 30% from a year prior," said Expedia’s global head of transport, Greg Schulze.
Since the UK’s Brexit vote, the pound has shrunk 13% in value against the US dollar.
"It’s largely related to the currency, but also with the capacity for the airlines on certain routes and the competition that brings. We’ve seen great deals for travelers coming into the UK."
Schulze said terror attacks in Europe have not greatly impacted demand for European travel.
"When there is an incident, travel is impacted but we’ve seen it to be quite resilient. The reality is that people love to travel. Right now, there are good deals for Europe as a destination, especially the UK as a destination," he told the AP.
Expedia says prices for hotel and flight packages from the US are down more than 45% compared to last year.
"The fact that we’re better value because of the fall in the strength of sterling means that Americans in particular have taken the opportunity of booking here in record numbers," said Bernard Donoghue, director of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions.
Data from the Office for National Statistics showed North American inbound tourism to the UK grew 9% for the last finacial year to March 2017.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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