British travellers are increasingly taking trips to the US to take advantage of the weak dollar, an industry expert has revealed.
Online travel agent Expedia has revealed it recorded a 20 per cent rise in the number of Brits flying to the US in the fourth quarter of 2007.
According to Expedia, the pound rose as high as $2.11 during 2007 - its highest level in almost 25 years – driving a mass increase in breaks to the US as Brits looked to capitalise on shopping trips to New York, or take advantage of cheaper hotel and entertainment prices by flying to family holiday destinations such as Florida .
The travel trend looks set to continue this year, with Sterling remaining close to the historic $2 levels, according to Expedia .
David Roche, senior vice-president for Expedia Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said: "The dollar is still having a tremendous benefit on all of the main transatlantic routes to Orlando, Miami, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco ."
Mr Roche predicted that 2008 would be "the year of the late deal" as the weakening economy hits demand for travel .
"I think this is the year when the later bookers will get a much better bargain than they have in the past few years because if you run a half-empty hotel or a half-empty plane any cash is good," he explained.
In addition, Roche said that the start of 2008 had already seen a rise in the number of people booking the so-called "superbreak", whereby people travel long-haul for extended weekend four-day breaks .
"People used to travel to short-haul cities for long weekends and it was quite rare that people would take a long weekend to somewhere like New York," he commented.
"Now more and more people are booking long weekends, not just to New York but to places like Buenos Aires, Hong Kong and Tokyo - which is staggering considering the amount of travel involved.
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