Weakened pound leads to fewer US trips

The weakened pound and the credit crunch are taking their toll on travel by Brits to the US.

SkyScanner, the flight search engine, is reporting that UK-US search traffic fell by 15 per cent in October, which suggests a downturn in travel for both skiing and holiday shopping.

The decrease in UK-US search traffic is being seen despite the overall high level of traffic on the website.

The co-founder of SkyScanner and its director of business development, Barry Smith, commented: “We know the Obama victory was a popular one, not just in the USA, but also around the world. It’s likely that this will lead to increased interest for the USA in future, but right now, the stronger dollar means the US is about 25% more expensive than it was this time last year.”

Smith went on to say: “Despite the current economic gloom, traffic is still very strong, and there’s every indication that people are continuing to make travel a top priority – perhaps because we need holidays to look forward to more than ever. But it’s not surprising that we’re seeing a fall in UK-USA flight searches, and Brits seem to be shopping and skiing closer to home this year.”

Thanks to www.travelmole.com for the quotes above, for more information on this article please visit their website.

www.skyscanner.net