... I am due to be a 'best man' again and I WILL be using StagWeb again for the stag do! Thank you!...John Gill, 2011
international stag weekends - the currency question (September 09)
Last week brought another dip in the already bashed pound. The last few weeks have seen a short lived sterling rally get knocked back again by the big currencies, namely the Euro and the US$.
It’s a bugger and as of today’s date, the pound is trading at a miserly 1.10275 Euros (10.53pm Monday 21 September 2009, figures by www.xe.com). In short that sucks and it also means by the time currency outlets have loaded their fees it’s back to about £1 = €1 for the man in the street. There is talk aswell that the predicted valuation will be about a par scoring 1 to 1 early in the new year, which if that happens could see regular travelers receiving less than a Euro for their hard earned pounds.
So not great for travel to the Eurozone as it’s not just the initial investment it’s spending when you get there. But all is not lost as despite the currency fluctuations, in certain areas the economic climate is bringing some of the best deals for the last 3-4 years, so if you get it right it does counterbalance. As usual, with regard to stag weekends, it comes down to planning. The bottom line is the smarter the planning the better the value. And the smarter the planning the bigger the off-set, ie you off-set the currency by getting better deals – that‘s where StagWeb does an outstanding job and makes you look very, very good as the stag weekend organiser!
But remember the stag is a one off event, especially for the groom, so don’t let a few exchange rate points put you off doing something you’ve always wanted to do ... but if the Eurozone is to be avoided while the Euro is high against the pound it leaves you with a couple of options, stay in the UK or travel outside the Eurozone. Budapest (Hungary – almost on a par with a year ago), Poland (Krakow, Warsaw, Poznan, Wroclaw & Gdansk – still better value than a year ago) are still probably giving the best value followed closely by Prague (Czech Republic) and the Baltics (Vilnius, Riga & Tallinn).
To give you some idea here’s a snap shot of exchange rates for the last 3-15 months …
| currency | 01.06.08 | 01.06.09 | % change, 12 months | 21.09.09 | % change, 3 months |
| Euro (Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Slovakia, Slovenia) | 1.27 | 1.16 | - 9% | 1.103 | -5% |
| Koruny (Prague - Czech Republic) | 31.83 | 30.96 | - 3% | 27.791 | -10% |
| Kuna (Zagreb - Croatia) | 9.22 | 8.52 | - 8% | 8.033 | -6% |
| Krooni (Tallinn - Estonia) | 19.93 | 18.13 | - 9% | 17.256 | -5% |
| Lita (Vilnius - Lithuania) | 0.9068* | 0.8170* | - 10% | 3.876 | -3% |
| Lat (Riga - Latvia) | 4.4537* | 3.9733* | - 11% | 0.783 | -4% |
| Forint (Budapest - Hungary) | 306.3 | 323.49 | + 6% | 299.913 | -7% |
| Zlotych (Gdansk, Krakow, Poznan, Warsaw, Wroclaw - Poland) | 4.3 | 5.15 | + 20% | 4.584 | -11% |
| Kronor (Gothenburg - Sweden) | 11.87 | 12.17 | + 3% | 11.2 | -8% |
Currencies as at 21.09.09 from www.xe.com, historic currency valuations at interbank rate provided by www.oanda.com.
If it makes sense to defer the international stag for another year at StagWeb we’ve got plenty of destinations for you, in the UK we’ve got well over 30 to choose from on the site, and even if you can’t see the destination we probably do it.
So whatever you need, whenever you need it we’re here to help, and we’re ready to apply the smartest stag weekend planning in the business!
