Britons keep foreign supermarket tills ringing
26th May 2010
Foreign supermarkets have reaped the rewards of a shift in British holidaymakers' eating habits as sales rose by 18% last year.
As holidaymakers seek to squeeze as much value out of their trip as possible by recouping the cost of flights, accommodation and travel insurance with trips to the local grocers rather than local restaurants, supermarkets have bucked the overall downward trend in foreign spending witnessed in 2009.
While supermarket spending abroad rose by 18% last year, overall spending dipped 4% as the economy slumped into recession and holidaymakers were more thrifty with their travel money, according to a survey of Visa purchases.
Visa Europe head of debit Tony Gibbons said a shift from eating out to eating in while abroad could explain the jump in spending in foreign supermarkets.
"The global downturn hasn't put us off travelling. Instead we've scaled back our spending and are looking to extract as much value from our trips as possible. For example, people are shifting spend from eating out to eating in. As people start to travel abroad again, we expect to see spending pick up over the next few years," he said.
Spending in France was down by 8%, while in Italy it declined by 6%. In Spain, where more was spent by Britons than in any other country, the figure fell by 5% to just under £1.72 billion.
Copyright © Press Association 2010
- Which European country would you most like to live in?
- 5 Extreme Activities to Do in New Zealand
- More over-50s 'opting for gap years'
- Most Britons 'overspend on holiday'
- Drivers face high petrol prices across Europe
- Tourists 'venturing outside Europe'
- Teenagers 'missing out' on holidays
- Full English most popular for holidays
- EU call charges cut boost for tourists
- Rail worker plans holiday after EuroMillions win
- Cameron dismisses claims euro will not survive
- Britons spend more on overseas accommodation
- Travellers urged to act smart over phone costs abroad
- Britons 'spend £168k on holidays'
- Vietnam devalues the dong by 8.5%
- News Archive
