The Euro is hitting the pound and British tourists' spending power, and Turkey is gaining ground as a favourite holiday destination for Brits.

The Cooperative Travel Group's director of retail travel, Trevor Davis, said packaged holiday sales for Turkey have increased by 30 percent. Mr. Davis also said sales to Majorca, Spain's top-selling holiday destination, have dropped by 13 percent. Ian Hailes, head of product and development for Cosmos, offers similar statistics. Hailes said packaged summer holiday sales for destinations in Turkey were up by a quarter while sales to destinations in Spain decreased by 6 percent.

Poor Economic Conditions

This year's recession has left the travel industry nervous, not knowing just how far holiday sales will fall in 2009.

While some families have elected to enjoy a "stay-cation," a stay-home-vacation, many others have not let economic misfortunes impact their holidays time.

Some low-cost airlines have been working with travel agents to help increase their own business as well as retaining the agent's client base. Agents are able to offer their clients less expensive flights to and from many points in Europe, making the overall cost of their vacation less expensive.

Currency Exchange Rates

The pound is doing very poorly against the euro, making Spanish vacations more expensive than in previous years. The currency used in Turkey is the New Turkish Lira, introduced in 2005. Exchange rates from the pound to the lira are much more favourable than those of pound to euro. For those tourists who have felt the pinch of a struggling economy, a Turkish vacation could prove to be more affordable for the 2008 vacation season. Whereever their destination, tourists aren't letting things like the economy and exchange rates ruin their plans. They're simply learning to budget their holiday as needed.

Low Cost Airlines

Although packaged holiday sales to Turkey have been top sellers in 2008, budget airlines are reporting more flights to Spanish destinations being booked than last year. More than 4,000 flights to Majorca have been booked already according to reports by Palma Majorca airport.

Top Selling Packaged Vacations for Summer 2008

Dalaman, Turkey tops the list as the number one packaged vacation spot for Europeans for 2009. Following closely behind is Majorca, one of Spain's Balearic Islands. The third destination is the Greek island of Crete. Turkey makes two appearances on the list, as Bodrum makes the list as the number four vacation destination for Europeans. The Algarve rounds out the top five packaged holiday destinations for this summer.

Ignacio Vasallo, director of the Spanish Tourist Office dismisses claims that Spain is losing ground as a favorite holidays destination. He said, "The big picture is that Spain is going to have 15.5 million UK visitors this year." Spain has a lot to offer each tourist who visits and the tourism office officials show no signs of worry that Spain may be losing ground, despite the strength of the Euro at the moment.