Brits Heading Abroad to go Shopping

Increasing numbers of people are heading abroad for shopping trips, increasingly to the US to take advantage of the weak dollar.

The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) has noticed increasing trends with the pound strong against the dollar.

The pound continues to strengthen against the dollar today, now buying $2.01666.

Frances Tuke, spokesperson for ABTA, said: "The dollar's looking quite weak at the moment so it does seem the time to go. We've seen it quite low for a while now so we've seen some good figures to the US."

There are also warnings to consumers planning a shopping trip to the US to adhere to strict tax limits in the country. Ms Tuke added that "you've got to be careful about your tax limit, but otherwise it's a good place to go shopping".

US stores display their prices before the addition of sales tax which can be a source of confusion for Brits, and each state has different rules about what is exempt from tax.

The numbers of Brits travelling for shopping trips is highlighted over the Christmas period. TheSite.org reports "almost a quarter of Britons now do their Christmas shopping abroad".

Destinations News posted on 19/03/2008 08:30:54