European cities breaks are no longer causing financial headaches for Britons due to improved currency rates, recent statistics show.

The strength of the British pound compares more favourably against the euro than it did this time last year. The pound is also stronger against non-euro currencies, including the Hungarian forint, the Turkish lira and the Polish zloty, making Europe a more affordable holiday destination for British tourists.

Your money will go the furthest in the Latvian capital of Riga, which topped Post Office Travel Money’s poll of 23 destinations for best value in terms of travel, accommodation, food, drinks and sightseeing.

A typical city break in Riga costs around £120. This compares with around £300 for the same stay in Stockholm and more than £330 for a trip to New York.

The second-best city with regards to value for money is Budapest, where the British pound is nearly 20% stronger against the forint than 12 months ago.

Other high-ranking European destinations, which can be reached from major UK airports such as Heathrow and Stansted, include Tallin in Estonia, Belfast and Dublin, where cultural sightseeing is exceptionally cheap.

“Our figures show clearly how the prices tourists will pay on a city break are inextricably linked to the value of sterling against individual currencies.

“In Budapest local prices are level with those a year ago but costs for UK tourists have fallen,” said the head of Post Office Travel Money Andrew Brown.

Holidays to Malta have seen the smallest increase in price of all trips within the Commonwealth, it has been revealed

The cost of a week-long holiday in Malta has risen by only £1 over the last year, figures from M&S Money showed.

The study of 10 Commonwealth countries showed that, including flights from airports such as Heathrow and Stansted, Cyprus (£1,199) had the lowest total costs, with Malta next (£1,230) and Kenya third (£1,435).

The most expensive destination was Singapore (£2,662) followed by New Zealand (£2,206).

Excluding flights, Kenya was the best-value destination, followed by Cyprus, South Africa and Malta.

Kenya’s excluding-flight figure of £998 came despite a rise of 13.65% in costs in the East Africa country in the last 12 months.

Costs were also up more than 8% in New Zealand and Barbados but rose only 0.08% in Malta and were less than 1.5% up in Cyprus, South Africa and Canada.

Jane Lawson, head of travel money at M&S Money, said: “In the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year many people will be tempted to follow in the footsteps of the Royal Family and see what the Commonwealth has to offer.

“Luckily, favourable exchange rates and lower inflation mean many countries in the Commonwealth offer great value for money.”

TUI Travel, the owner of Thomson Holidays, has revealed its summer bookings have improved, fairing considerably better that its main competitor, Thomas Cook.

The company, Europe’s largest tour operator, revealed that overall trading was in line with expectations, with bookings as of March 25 down 6%, compared with a 7% decline published two months earlier. Winter bookings are currently 90% full – an improvement on last year’s performance.

TUI went on to reveal that almost half of its summer programme was booked, while the average selling price was up around 8%. Its performance continues to outperform the market and it continues to make gains on Thomas Cook.

Its improved performance was driven by demand for holidays exclusively available through TUI, but disappointing sales of holidays in North Africa, where the Arab Spring hit tourism hard, has affected the company’s overall performance.

Thomas Cook went on a publicity offensive when it encountered financial difficulties last year, with adverts in national newspapers reassuring customers that it was safe to book holidays despite fears of its collapse.

TUI, which offers holidays departing from a number of airports in the UK, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton, wasted little time in seeking to capitalise on its rival’s misfortune by taking out its own advertisements, which said: “Another holiday company may be experiencing turbulence, but we are in really great shape.”

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About half of British tourists like to visit churches while on holiday, but a much smaller proportion of these people do the same when they are at home.

A survey by Direct Line revealed that 49% attended churches and other places of worship when they are abroad, but 26% said they never visited a church when they were back in the UK and 25% had only done so on rare occasions.

Around 15% of the 2012 adults quizzed by the insurance company revealed they had been on a religious pilgrimage, a spiritual holiday or visited a holiday destination primarily for religious reasons.

Holidaymakers from London, possibly departing from locations such as Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted; Scotland and Northern Ireland are most likely to visit a religious attraction while on holiday, compared to those in the North West, the East and Yorkshire, all of whom would rather go on a beach holiday.

This study potentially puts paid to the notion that all Britons are interested in when they go on holiday is sunshine and sandy beaches.

Tom Bishop, head of travel insurance at Direct Line, said: “This research suggests that a large number of British tourists want to experience something other than sun, sand and a hangover from their holidays.”

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Long-haul holidaymakers are not phased by further rises in air passenger duty (APD), even though they add hundreds of pounds to flights.

That is according to luxury holiday company Hayes & Jarvis, which claims it is not seeing any direct impact from the hike at all.

The tax, due to rise on April 1, can add hundreds to the cost of a family of four heading for Florida, and similar for a group bound for Australia.

But despite this long-haul bookings have soared, says Hayes & Jarvis, with those for the Caribbean – said to be hardest hit by the tax – surging by 24% after April.

“There seems little evidence that APD is a concern to holidaymakers,” said Niel Alobaidi, commercial director at Hayes & Jarvis.

“While there has been negative reporting about possible implications of this latest rise in APD, we do not believe we are seeing any direct impact from this at all.”

Considering the reasons for this, Mr Alobaidi said: “From bookings so far in 2012, we think the overall value of the holiday is a key driver of demand. Customers won’t bother to break down the cost of individual parts of each package.”

But Thomson Holidays owner TUI Travel maintains the increases are “an unnecessary blow for the aviation industry as a whole and an indication of how little regard the Government has for the whole area of tourism.”

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Despite the country’s purse strings remaining tight, UK holidaymakers are planning on spending a record amount on their trips abroad this year.

The average tourist will spend £3,890 on overseas breaks in 2012, with Spain being the the most popular destination, taking in £1.8 billion from UK holidaymakers.

The country, which includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea and the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, is a popular choice for Britons due to its sandy beaches, top temperatures andshort flight times from airports such as Heathrow and Stansted.

The Visa Europe Travel Report added that other top spots for breaks for Britons were France, the USA, Italy and Australia – however a new trend is also arising.

Remote destinations are becoming increasingly popular, according to the report, with more people eager to visit St Helena, in the South Pacific Ocean, Comoros in the Indian Ocean and Guinea in West Africa. These destinations have shown the biggest year on year increase in expenditure.

Despite the increasingly tough economic climate, British holidaymakers still spent a record £12.4 billion on their visits overseas, which was a 2% rise from the previous year.

This all-time high amount of spending was due to 137 million holiday transactions made by Britons last year, ranging from their initial trip booking, eating and drinking out when on holiday to airport transfers.

It is not just the 18-30 crowd that are leaving our shores for holidays in the world’s clubbing hot spots, as the over 55s are living it up too!

The young-at-heart elder generation are not adverse to holiday romances either, according to a poll conducted for Gnu Insurance.

The study found that while the over 55s will stick to wine and beer rather than cocktails, around a fifth of them will have danced with strangers abroad, and 15% admit to a holiday romance.

The older holiday makers may like to pretend they are better behaved than the youngsters in the same resorts, but the study found that 10% had danced on tables, 14% had been stopped by police and 2% had stripped off!

After completing their airport transfers, meeting new friends in club scene destinations such as Lanzarote, Ibiza, Rio de Janeiro, Magaluf in Spain and Ayia Napa in Cyprus, is top of the list of priorities for a quarter of all over-55s.

The survey also discovered that more 18 to 24-year-olds (38%) wanted to spend time with their families while on holiday than holiday makers who are over 55 (36%).

Gnu Insurance general manager Paul Thilo said: “Our research demonstrates that older generations are remaining young at heart and choosing holidays that will be fun and involve the kind of activities that traditionally have been seen as the preserve of the young.”

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Children still hold the balance of power when it comes to planning family time, after some 62% of parents told a survey that they are influenced by youngsters’ interests when it comes to settling upon a holiday destination.

The poll for Dubai Tourism found that while parents said that the exact details of planning a break – such as whether to fly from Stansted or Luton airport – was usually a decision made by the whole of the family, they felt that a destination which would show new things to their children and expand their horizons was desirable.

A total of 37% of those questioned in the research said that not being able to eat together at family-friendly restaurants was one thing that would put them off a hotel.

Being confined to a resort was also deemed an annoyance by 32% of parents, who said that they would not have liked the idea of being stuck in a complex with no chance to experience the local culture. The same percentage admitted that they also would not be keen on having a shortage of activities.

Other poll results showed that creating good memories rather than collecting holiday souvenirs was the most important thing parents wanted to achieve from their break, with just short of three-quarters (73%) saying that spending time together as a family was the most important objective.

Ian Scott, UK and Ireland director of Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said: “With people having to be more cautious with cash yet also working longer hours than ever, children are at the heart of parents’ decisions when choosing their family holiday destination.”

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Nearly three-quarters of us fret about missing out on office gossip while away on holiday, research has suggested.

The poll from Sunshine found that more than 80% of us worry about missing out on important work developments, suggesting that even when on a beach thousands of miles away, work is never far from our minds.

Fretting over such matters can get in the way of a good time, but people arranging airport transfers can at least be sure their trip to and from the airport is hassle-free.

The poll of 1,652 full-time workers also found that more than 30% work while away, and that a quarter phone or email the office to check if everything is okay.

Nearly a fifth had gone as far as Facebooking workmates, while 3% requested that staff nights out were delayed until they returned from their holiday.

Sunshine co-founder Chris Brown said: “Fear of missing out is indeed a relatively common phenomenon and it’s not difficult to see why it’s quite common among holidaymakers.

“When you are thousands of miles away, it’s easy to start getting anxious about what you could be missing, whether that’s actual work you may need to catch up on when you get back, or just who said what behind whose back in the office.”

Travellers must make sure that they factor in hidden charges when calculating the cost of their holiday, experts have said.

Which? Travel magazine is calling on travel firms to stop using these types of payment, which can create extra costs for customers.

Some companies add on additional £2 charity donations without telling customers, while others use ultra-expensive 0871 or 090 calling codes, the magazine found.

Meanwhile, 43% of operators were found to add unavoidable surcharges or booking fees on to card payments, while others offer “free” car hire accompanied by an insurance package costing up to £126.

As many as one in five (20%) use automatic “opt-ins”, meaning consumers have to untick boxes to avoid extra payments for items they do not want, Which? Travel said.

The study of almost 200 companies included travel firms, airlines, hotel chains and hire companies.

These types of hidden charges make it even more important for savvy holidaymakers to save money wherever possible, such as booking cheap airport transfers by bus or coach.

Chris Gray, Which? Travel’s acting assistant editor, said: “Consumers should always have a clear choice when it comes to adding an extra item to their purchase.

“Automatic opt-ins make such choices less than clear, and we want travel companies to stop using them.”

The magazine also found that several hotels in London have hiked room prices ahead of this summer’s Olympics.

Which? Travel said prices at some hotels with rooms still available near the Olympic Park in Stratford had soared by up to £274 during the Games.

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