Rupiah, baht outpace the Aussie dollar
LONDON – Long haul price cuts, cheaper European city hotels and a drastic slashing of air fares are boosting foreign holidays, a new UK report shows.
The Post Office’s market intelligence on the currency purchasing trends for the first half of 2009 shows that eight out of the top ten fastest growing currencies in June were long haul destinations led by South Africa and Kenya.
Post Office head of travel Sarah Munro said: “Confidence seems to be returning to the holiday market and our currency sales in recent weeks indicate that UK tourists are responding to the great value deals available for overseas travel.
“Long haul package prices that compare very favourably with European trips have helped to stimulate demand for destinations like Kenya, Thailand, Egypt and Bali as the significant growth levels for sales of the currencies for these countries in June shows.
“In Europe, Turkey continues to be an outstanding success story and, as we predicted earlier in the year, currency sales have now grown to such an extent that the Turkish lira has overtaken the Australian dollar and is third only to the euro and US dollar.”
South Africa saw year on year growth of 176 percent, attributable in part to the British Lions tour while Kenya has recovered from last year’s riots to record a 171 percent growth in currency sales for the year to date – 109 percent in June alone.
Sales of the Indonesian rupiah have also been strong, making this the Post Office’s third fastest growing currency. Its success can be attributed largely to the popularity of Bali.
China has sustained interest generated by last year’s Olympic Games to take fifth place in the January-June growth table with yuan sales up 13 percent (38 percent for June).
Thailand pulled back after a bad start to the year, when demand was dampened by political unrest.
Sales of the Thai baht grew year on year by 35 percent, a response to the keenly-priced family package offers available for the school holidays, according to the survey.
by Phil Davies
Ian Jarrett
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
France prepares for a massive strike across all transports on September 18
Turkish tourism stalls due to soaring prices for accommodation and food
CCS Insight: eSIMs ready to take the travel world by storm
Germany new European Entry/Exit System limited to a single airport on October 12, 2025
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt