As Brexit dust settles, UAE travellers and residents look to advantages

Travellers to the UK are making use of favourable exchange rates, while British parents with children in UAE schools are considering sending them back to save money.

Exchange rates are seen at a UAE Exchange branch in the Al Sayegh Centre on Hamdan bin Mohammed street near the World Trade Center in Abu Dhabi. Christopher Pike / The National
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DUBAI // Travellers to the UK are taking advantage of favourable exchange rates between the two countries by upgrading their hotels, staying longer and spending more.

And British parents with children in UAE schools are waiting to see if they would save money by sending them to the UK for education.

Currency exchange rate between the pound and dirham makes it about 15 per cent cheaper to visit the UK for UAE residents since Britain voted to leave the EU.

The drop in the pound is a direct result of the uncertainty surrounding the implications of Brexit referendum, where Britons voted to leave the European Union.

It means the dirham, which is pegged to the US dollar, has more buying power against the pound as £1 currently buys just $1.32.

Premjit Bangara, general manager of Sharaf Travel, said he did not believe there would be an immediate effect on travel between the two countries.

“The UK has always been an extremely popular destination for Emiratis as well as people from the rest of the GCC,” Mr Bangara said.

“People tend to go on longer stays during the summer and the exchange rate has resulted in people extending their stays in the UK by two to three days.

“We are also seeing that people are upgrading their stays from four-star hotels to five star because it’s a little bit cheaper.

“We have so many British expats living in the UAE and they won’t be put off by the exchange rate. Neither will their relatives or friends who come to visit them from the UK.”

If the discrepancy in the exchange rate is of a longer term, Mr Bangara said people would make adjustments and budget accordingly so they could afford to travel.

“People will get used to the rate and will cut back on things if they want to come to the UAE,” he said.

Competitive hotel prices in the UAE would also help to ease the burden for British visitors, he said.

Ashish Panjabi, chief operating officer for Jacky’s Electronics, said retailers had already been wrestling with the exchange rate between the euro and dollar over the past 18 months.

“Effectively, it’s meant that the UAE is 20 per cent more expensive for visitors from the euro zone because the dirham is pegged to the dollar,” he said.

“It’s difficult to say what immediate impact will result from the shift in the exchange rate between the pound and the dirham.”

The higher cost of spending for Brits has been balanced out by lower oil prices, which led to cheaper airfares among many airlines, Mr Panjabi said.

“Most tourists from Europe or the UK come here for the beaches and the sun as opposed to shopping, so I do not think we will be that affected by the higher cost for these visitors,” he said.

Much of the sales came from visitors from the GCC, Africa, Iran and the Indian subcontinent, he said.

nhanif@thenational.ae