With sterling soaring to its highest rate this year against European currencies, families travelling to the eurozone and other Continental hotspots at the end of the school term can expect to have up to 11.5 per cent more cash in hand compared with last summer. However, the fourth annual Post Office Travel Money Family Holiday Report reveals that forgetting to pack kids' 'must-haves' and paying out for holiday extras could wipe out the sterling gain and cost hundreds of unbudgeted pounds.
In research conducted for the Post Office report, 81% of parents who had been on a family holiday said their kids had pestered them for holiday extras. Two-thirds named ice creams as the biggest drain on the holiday purse while 44% said their kids craved fizzy drinks. 39%demanded beach items like buckets and spades or lilos while almost two-in-five parents (38%) gave in to pester power for a water park visit.
Other family budget busters included swimming goggles, beach clothes, coin-operated games and sun loungers. However, prices for these extras vary dramatically across 12 European destinations surveyed for the Family Holiday Report's Beach Barometer.
Bulgaria, the Costa del Sol and Turkey emerge as cheapest in a barometer of 10 holiday items that included kids'beach extras, suncream, insect repellent, sun lounger hire, a soft drink, an ice cream, a water park visit and a family meal out. At £110.17 in Sunny Beach, £121.11 in Torremolinos and £129.29 in Marmaris, these three destinations were the ones least likely to bust the family holiday budget. By contrast, the same items cost 72% more in Crete (£189.15), the highest-priced destination.
Bournemouth, included in a Post Office barometer for the first time, came in fifth place at £147.23 for the 10 beach holiday extras.
Prices varied within countries as well. For example, in Spain the barometer items cost over 30 per cent more in Majorca than on the Costa del Sol - £157.96 compared with £121.11 - while in Javea on the Costa Blanca they cost £138.79. However, if the cost of a water park visit is excluded, Javea was actually five per cent cheaper than Torremolinos on the Costa del Sol (£70.00, compared with £73.70).
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