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When travel is cheap

8th January 2009 | back to article listings BACK    print this article PRINT

Those thinking of investing in France in recent times may have seen the events on the foreign exchanges as bad news. With the euro so high against the pound, the cost of buying property in France is more than it would otherwise be, albeit offset by falls in price. At the same time, it may be reasoned that some holidaymakers may also be put off visiting the continent for the same reason. This could harm the buy-to-let market.

Yet this may not necessarily be the case. The Daily Telegraph has suggested that there are a number of ways in which visitors to France can do things for less.

Many of these items were general tourist-related tips, such as using minor roads without tolls when driving (with the added bonuses of enjoying peaceful countryside), shopping locally for wine or getting a two-day museum pass to see Paris for less. But others were very specifically related to travel and its costs. The good news, it seems, is that actually getting to France costs a great deal less than was once the case, even allowing for the weak pound.

As a result, crossing on the Dover to Calais ferry with a car plus passengers will cost under £100 in summer 2009 for those who book now, compared to over £300 in 1992. The lowest priced ticket on the Eurostar when the service was launched in 1994 was £95. Now it is £59 and this has not changed since 2003. A return flight to Nice with one bag in the hold will cost £60 now. In 1990 the best price would have been £125 with Dan Air.

So for those who are investing in French property, it seems the tourists still have some good reasons to come. Moreover, the paper noted, there are also cheaper regions to be considered, such as Normandy and Brittany. These are two regions which, by being in the north of the country, are of course highly accessible via the ferry and Eurostar options.

As for the plane flights, it appears these too may be offering more options. Budget airline easyJet? has announced a series of extra flights from Manchester and Liverpool airports to a range of European destinations. Cheap new routes include Manchester to Bastia (Corfu) and Liverpool to Bordeaux and Naples.

The recent low rate of sterling against the euro has been bad news for some, but in recent days even this has improved and over time it may be that the value of the pound improves significantly, benefiting both investors and tourists. But the evidence of the falling cost of travel, making getting to France so much cheaper now than 15-20 years ago, suggests that one positive trend may be here to stay. In doing so, it may boost the number of potential customers for buy-to-let property across the channel.

This is a press release by Assetz also available at http://press.assetz.co.uk/articles/4570.html. Alternatively, please see our full press release archive.

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