More Britons will head for holidays in Turkey, Egypt and Morocco during 2009 because the weak pound has made Europe too expensive, according to currency exchange firms and travel industry leaders.
 
The numbers heading to what has been dubbed the 'Costa del Kasbah' are expected to rise following sterling's slump against the euro, which has pushed up the cost of a break in such traditional destinations as Tenerife or the Algarve by as much as 25 per cent.

ABTA said demand for travel to Egypt rose 38 per cent in 2008, while Turkey was up 32 per cent, a pattern expected to continue this year. While the pound has weakened against most currencies, the high cost of travel, accommodation and everyday expenses in the likes of Spain, Cyprus and France mean that Turkey, Egypt and Morocco still offer better value for money.

An ABTA spokesman said: "With the position of the currencies unlikely to get much better we expect people will continue to look further afield to north Africa and Turkey, which offer much better value for money and where you can still find dinner for two for £20."

Some tour operators are already responding to the pressure by cutting the cost of breaks to Spain. The Co-operative Travel company said that, while pound sterling prices for 2009 package holidays have risen by an average of 18 per cent over the past year, a typical package holiday to the leading Turkish destination of Dalman had gone up 27 per cent compared to a rise of just three per cent for an equivalent holiday in Majorca.

Holiday airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair have increased flights to Morocco and Turkey in the past 18 months. A spokesman for Flyglobespan, which flies from regional UK airports to holiday destinations, said: "We have added an extra weekly flight to Turkey from Edinburgh for next year and we are looking at the possibility of doing something similar from Glasgow.

"Elsewhere our experience is that people will still fly to the Costas and the usual Mediterranean favourites but perhaps curtail their spending patterns while on holiday."

Money exchangers have also reported rising demand for the currencies of other non-euro zone countries such as Tunisia, Croatia and Bulgaria. Mark O'Sullivan, dealing director at Currencs Direct, said: "We have certainly had more interest in non-euro zone currencies and that is likely to continue as people start discussing their holiday plans for the coming year. Of course we have also seen a rise in demand the other way, with a lot of European visitors heading to Britain to do their shopping. The US dollar is still a fair bet even with the recent fall. The current rate is pretty much what it has always been but we have become very spoilt in recent years with up to two dollars to the pound, and we all piled over to the States to do our shopping." He added that the currency instability had created some unlikely winners. "Those expats who have been selling their homes in Spain in the middle of the property crash have found themselves better off when they convert the cash from the sale back into pounds sterling," he said.

"Likewise French and Spanish buyers are finding the weakness of the pound, coupled with our falling property prices, has made buying a property in Britain up to 50 per cent cheaper than two years ago."