A survey conducted by beach holiday specialist On the Beach has revealed British holidaymakers have on average, £97.68 in foreign currency at home, equating to a whopping £1.59bn across the country.
The survey of 1,000 British holidaymakers found that whilst 57% of holidaymakers spend any unused foreign currency on often unwanted and unnecessary items at the airport, the remaining 43% bring their holiday money home with them.
The research found eight of 10 (81%) British holidaymakers are stashing Euros at home, making it by far the most popular currency in British homes.
One in three Britons admit to having several US Dollars in the drawers at home whilst other currencies languishing in British homes include Turkish Lira, Australian Dollars, Mexican Peso and the Bulgarian Lev.
The survey also found many British holidaymakers have unusable old foreign currencies at home such the French Franc with 3% of Brits admitting to having the now obsolete Cypriot Pound at home.
Of those spending their unused currency at the airport before jetting back to the UK, the majority (32%) said they would squander around £10, whilst one in three (29%) said they would spend up to £20. Almost one in 10 (9%) said they would splash up to £50 at the airport just to rid of their foreign currency.
The survey also found that the Traveller’s Cheque, once the holiday currency of choice for millions of British holidaymakers, is becoming a thing of the past with just 17% of Brits saying they use them for their holidays.
However, it would appear the Travellers Cheque is still a popular choice amongst the 45-53 year olds, with 21% of people in this age group saying they still use the cheques for their holidays.
Alistair Daly, Chief Marketing Officer at On the Beach comments: “Our survey suggests there is a staggering amount of unused foreign currency sitting in the drawers of British homes. Whilst more than half of holidaymakers appear to spend their leftover holiday money on non-essential items at the airport before flying home, “Rather than exchanging your foreign currency when your back home, getting stung with fees and fluctuating rates, our advice would be to keep hold of your currency but remember to take it with you next time you jet off.”
