Holidaymakers planning ‘trip of a lifetime’ as currency sales surge

Some holidaymakers appear to be planning the trip of a lifetime amid a surge in currency sales, according to the Post Office.

The Post Office is seeing signs of “pent-up demand”, potentially reflecting people gearing up to travel abroad for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Its latest travel money holiday index showed sales growth in a range of currencies in the first three months of 2022 compared with the first quarter of 2020.

Strong growth in purchases of currencies for Croatia and the Caribbean islands suggests these are set to be the destinations of choice, the Post Office said.

It said sales for most currencies have been accelerating since the start of the year, with purchases of the Croatian kuna up by 137% during the first quarter of this year compared with two years earlier.

Caribbean currencies have also seen high levels of growth – most notably the Barbados dollar and Jamaican dollar, the Post Office said.

Big rises have also been charted by the Mexican peso and East Caribbean dollar.

Nick Boden, Post Office head of travel money said: “We are used to seeing a spring surge in sales of the Croatian kuna, but the rise in March was unprecedented, indicating that Croatia is set to have another highly successful year.

“We have also seen an extraordinary rise in sales of Caribbean and Central American currencies in 2022.  It suggests that pent-up demand is resulting in many Britons planning holidays of a lifetime to some of the world’s most aspirational destinations.”