Cheapflights.co.uk, the pioneer of and an international leader in independent online flight price search and comparison together with trivago.co.uk the hotel price search site and consumer hotel review site have compared Euro Zone March air fares and hotel prices against a year and six months ago respectively.The Bank of England’s average Sterling /Euro rate for March has dropped 12% year on year.  Hence, due to the strength of the Euro, the Euro Zone has suffered as a destination from the UK. Conversely, non-Euro mid and long-haul destinations have become more popular in Cheapflights’ UK search rankings over the past year as consumers look to stretch their holiday budgets further.    Combined with the world wide credit crunch this has driven down almost all Euro Zone air fares and hotels prices compared in this survey. Cheapflights data was from air fares taken from its handpicked deals pages in March 2008 and 2009. Hotel prices from trivago’s monthly hotel price index from September 2008 and March 2009 were used to establish hotel pricing comparisons over the past six months.

ÊÊÊDestinationÊAir FareÊ *%+/-

ÊÊon Mch 2009Ê  Hotel Price**Ê  %+/-

ÊÊ on July 2008

FranceÊÊÊ Paris ÊÊ £110
          ÊÊÊÊ+20%

ÊÊÊÊ  £120
                 
ÊÊÊÊ-10%                     

ÊÊÊÊ Nice ÊÊ  £28
 
ÊÊ -75%ÊÊ £85 ÊÊ -13%

ÊÊÊÊ  CannesÊÊ£28
          ÊÊ-75% ÊÊ  £86 ÊÊ  -25%

ÊÊSpainÊÊ BarcelonaÊÊ £47  
          ÊÊ-40% ÊÊ £93 ÊÊÊ -18%

ÊÊ MalagaÊÊÊÊÊ      £43
          ÊÊ-53% ÊÊ£72ÊÊÊÊ -12%

ÊÊ MadridÊÊ£38 ÊÊÊ

ÊÊ-51%ÊÊ£95ÊÊÊÊ  -10%

ÊÊItalyÊÊ RomeÊÊ £89
          ÊÊUnch.ÊÊ£109 ÊÊ-17%

                        *Return Fare Inc. Taxes
             
                      ** Price per room

Commenting, Francesca Ecsery, General Manager, Cheapflights.co.uk said: “The trend over the past year has definitely been away from the old European destinations to places where that holiday pound goes that bit further. However, as can be seen there are some incredible return European city air fare deals around compared to a year ago. Also accommodation prices in many cities in Europe have dropped significantly - Therefore, don’t dismiss a European City Break because prices for fares and hotels have definitely been discounted significantly and are all less than 2 hours away!”

trivago’s Managing Director Malte Siewert added: “We are also noticing an increase in searches for hotels further afield, but even with the weak pound it is still possible to find good hotel deals in Europe by comparing prices.  Over the past six months we have seen a drop in hotel prices in Southern Europe.”

 

 

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