Travel Trends, and why they matter for the Exchange Rate on the High Street
Declan Morton
January 30, 2025
Everyone understands travel trends, right? If only it was that easy. Trends are easy to follow but much harder to understand. Often it’s only after the event that things become clear. But that doesn’t stop people trying to predict what’s going to be popular next season or next year. If you run a foreign currency exchange service on the high street – and you think a lot about the exchange rate – then that’s important. Understanding where your customers are going in the future can help with promotional activities, and help you improve your offer.
Travel Trends for 2025 – same patterns, new experiences
According to Skyscanner, travel trends in the developed west build on 2024’s favourites, with a general theme of ‘shared experiences”. That includes sports competitions and events, hobby-based vacations (think anything from building dry stone walls to gaming and e-sports), plus art and culture to add to sunshine breaks. On top of this is layered a growing awareness that it is possible to include environmental responsibility in our holiday plans. That could be travelling by train instead of air, or seeking out areas renowned for their dark skies and star-gazing opportunities.
OnTrailVisa has a more specific picture for the UK. As with previous years, there is a growing interest in wellness-focused holidays and event and themed trips. But old favourites still feature as the mainstay. Winter sun remains popular, as do destinations with reliable weather (whatever the season). Budget breaks for last-minute bookings and bargain-hunters continue to important for many tour operators and airlines. For these, don’t forget the “shoulder” and off-peak seasons, especially for those travelling without children.
Another pattern is “Destination Dupes” – lesser known (and often cheaper) destinations that compare well with established resort areas. Thus, Montenegro and Croatia instead of Spain or Greece; or Cambodia instead of Thailand or Vietnam. The possibility (even likelihood) of heatwaves in Europe is also leading to more interest in cooler northern countries. Places like Poland and Estonia are increasingly popular for longer stays, not just weekend city-breaks.
Why do trends matter for the high street? And why is the exchange rate important?
Currency exchange outlets with their finger on the pulse of local demand can more easily target their advertising and promotions if they know what’s popular. They may choose simply to put a poster in their shop window with exchange rates for popular currencies, or they could run targeted campaigns in the local press and online.
And it’s the exchange rate that matters. Consumers want to know they have a good deal, and everyone’s keen to boast about the great price they’ve just got on Euros or the Cambodian Riel. But for the small or medium-sized currency retailer, securing a competitive exchange rate can be a challenge. The best rates are traditionally available to those selling higher volumes of foreign exchange. So for smaller outlets it’s a vicious circle. Without volume, rates are high; and with high rates, it’s difficult to grow sales volumes.
Meeting the foreign currency exchange rate challenge
A new approach is essential to break the dominant position of large travel money retailers. What’s needed is a combination of the established convenience of click & collect, with a compelling local offer. And in a perfect world that would come with streamlined back-office functions, an easy-to-use point-of-sale system, as well as the best exchange rates that day, every day.
Money4Travel: Empowering Your FX Services
There is a solution that meets all these needs: Money4Travel by travel money specialist Essiell. This unique service enables subscribing retailers – independents as well as chains of travel agents, pawnbrokers and jewellers – to provide the best exchange rate for their local customers.
This is how it works: using the Money4Travel website, consumers enter key details including their postcode and the desired currency, which they can buy online. Money4Travel then directs them to the subscribing currency exchanger within a ten-minute drive of their location. This will always be the best exchange rate within that range. The purchase is a simple click & collect, and the beauty is that it’s all local.
For the travel money retailer, there are powerful benefits
Members of the Money4Travel marketplace
- have the ability to sell foreign currency with the best exchange locally
- receive payment to their business account the next day
- can run a loyalty scheme and a buy-back guarantee, both operated by Money4Travel
- benefit from automated compliance screening, and
- benefit from affordable monthly subscriptions, from £6.95/month.
There’s also the option to include the Bureau Point of Sale package, to further streamline transactions and maximise business growth.
A Win-Win for Everyone
The Money4Travel offer is a unique proposition. It benefits everyone involved. Customers preparing for their travels get the best exchange available locally. Retailers gain from a competitive edge, being able to deliver an improved level of customer service, and a higher profile in their local market.
If you’re a travel money retailer, it makes perfect sense. Why not get in touch now?
By Declan Morton, writer and editor at Money4Travel – the online service for foreign currency sales in the UK. More about the author.
For reference: Travel Trends 2025: The search for community and collective experiences, Skyscanner, Aug/Sept 2024; UK travel trends: where are Brits headed in 2024 and 2025? OnTrailVisa, September 2024
