Families travelling on holiday to Europe this summer will not only get more for their money than a year ago but also benefit from price cuts in many resorts.
Prices could be up to 31% cheaper as a result, according to the annual Post Office Travel Money Family Holiday Report published today.
The improvement follows a 9% rise in the value of the pound against the euro since last summer.
Post Office Travel Money reports price cuts in three out of four of the resorts it has surveyed for its latest report.
This compares the price of a basket of holiday goods in 14 resorts – 13 around Europe and one in the US (Orlando).
Bulgaria’s Sunny Beach and Spain’s Costa del Sol come out cheapest for family meals and the two best-value resorts overall, with Sunny Beach showing an 18% drop in prices year on year.
Crete is rated third cheapest of the destinations surveyed.
However, meal costs in Italy’s Sorrento have fallen further than in the cheapest resorts, down 39% on a year ago, cutting the price of the Post Office basket of goods in the resort by 26%.
Prices in the Croatian resort of Porec are down by even more – with resort costs down 31% and meal prices down 46% on 2013.
By contrast, meal prices in Majorca have “mushroomed” leading the Post Office to declare the island “one of the priciest places for families to eat”.
Prices are also up in Marmaris in Turkey – although a 7% increase is more than compensated by a 20% improvement in the exchange rate against the Turkish lira on a year ago.
The Family Holiday Report Barometer rates Nice the most expensive resort of those surveyed, ahead of Sorrento, Majorca and Orlando.
The report also compares prices in Sliema in Malta, the Costa Blanca in Spain, Corfu, Ayia Napa and the Algarve.
Andrew Brown of Post Office Travel Money said: “Paying for meals is likely to have the biggest impact on the family budget and price variations in popular destinations are much greater than you might expect.
“For those on a strict budget, Sunny Beach and the Costa del Sol look to be unbeatable value. However, competition between restaurants in Sorrento and Porec means families will pay a lot less than a year ago.”
The exchange rate of the pound has improved from €1.11 in July 2013 to €1.22 this July and from $1.46 to $1.65.
To compare resort costs go to postoffice.co.uk/familyholidays2014