Village accepts euro on par with pound

[AtW]

Traders in a picturesque Somerset village popular with tourists have begun accepting the euro on a par with the pound following the fall in value of sterling.

Gift shops and a hotel in Dunster, set in Exmoor National Park, are offering the straight 'euro-for-pound' exchange rate in an attempt to attract more visitors from mainland Europe.

The wealth of the village, which is dominated by a Norman castle and has a main street of medieval houses, was built on its cloth making.

Antony Brunt, who owns the Yarn Market Hotel, said he hoped the offer would draw in a good trade for the New Year.

Mr Brunt, who is also chairman of the Exmoor Tourist Association, added: "There is a near parity at the moment on the exchange rate, and I thought we could go that little bit further and give some incentive to visitors."

Mr Brunt said he had introduced the offer after reading reports that a similar deal had provided a boost for retailers in Northern Ireland.

Large numbers of "euro-shoppers" from the Irish Republic have been visiting border towns including Newry and Enniskillen where some shops are offering direct exchange rates. They believe they can save at least 30 per cent on their weekly grocery shop.

Two years ago a euro was worth about 70 pence, now it has risen above 90p.

In Dunster, Mr Brunt said: "After what has been happening in Ireland, people going across the border to get a good deal, we thought we could do something similar.

"Tourism is one of the major industries in Dunster, so we need to keep doing things to attract those tourists.

"We feel that customers need to be given that extra incentive, especially customers from overseas and European customers.

"I think that the currency status at the moment is going to encourage UK visitors to stay in the UK, and it is going to make the UK more appealing for foreign tourists, so it is not all doom and gloom.

He added: "I haven't heard of anyone else in England doing this, I believe we are the first."

Another trader in Dunster, Mark Phillips, who owns the Coastal Living clothes shop, said: "We get a large percentage of European visitors and it just makes sense at the moment.

"We receive a lot of Italian and Scandinavian visitors and this is a positive gesture towards them.

"We have only just started offering it so we have not had anyone using it yet. Fingers crossed it will not be long though."

He added: "Of course I will keep an eye on the exchange rate and we can only do this if the near parity continues."

Tourist shops on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh say they have experienced a boom in post-Christmas shoppers due to an offer of equal pound to euro exchange rate. Many of the visitors were from Spain and Italy.

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That's the first step towards popular support of proper hard currency against local one: happens in all countries with high inflation and depreciating currency.

[Cyberman]

Sainsbury's and other stores have been accepting the Euro for years, but shoppers still reject the Euro by a vast majority. So much for your theory. The reason Dunster is offering to trade in Euros is for foreign tourism reasons, not because UK citizens want to use it.

[AtW]

because UK citizens want to use it

Just wait for other UK citizens to be paid in euros - I've lived in a country where currency was plummeting and assets values disappearing - behavior changes very quickly.

[darmstadt]

Sainsbury's and other stores have been accepting the Euro for years, but shoppers still reject the Euro by a vast majority. So much for your theory. The reason Dunster is offering to trade in Euros is for foreign tourism reasons, not because UK citizens want to use it.

I take it you didn't read the article or actually take it in then:

Traders in a picturesque Somerset village popular with tourists have begun accepting the euro on a par with the pound following the fall in value of sterling.

Many shops in the UK have accepted the Euro for a few years now, particularly where there are a lot of foreign tourists but this article shows that they are doing it on a 1-1 basis, not exchange rates as previously.

[PM-Junkie]

Many shops in the UK have accepted the Euro for a few years now....

This is one of the funniest statements yet. Typical example...run along to Oxford Street in London (you know, the one frequented by one or two of tourists each year) with a pocketful of Euros and see how many shops accept them.

Granted you'll find shops on the coast round Dover that accept them - but that is hardly "many shops".

[AtW]

Granted you'll find shops on the coast round Dover that accept them - but that is hardly "many shops".

So ze shops in ze immediate vicinity of ze landing zones are accepting euros now? That's very good, I'd say zer good!

[Cyberman]

I take it you didn't read the article or actually take it in then:



Many shops in the UK have accepted the Euro for a few years now, particularly where there are a lot of foreign tourists but this article shows that they are doing it on a 1-1 basis, not exchange rates as previously.

.. but only for tourists, as I said !!

[Liability]

This is one of the funniest statements yet. Typical example...run along to Oxford Street in London (you know, the one frequented by one or two of tourists each year) with a pocketful of Euros and see how many shops accept them.

Granted you'll find shops on the coast round Dover that accept them - but that is hardly "many shops".

On Oxford Street nearly all shops accept them...Tourism is there trade there....only reason I know is that I spent some not long ago and realised that I can even buy a McD on Oxford Street with Euros! Hang the bastards! Treason! Im certain John Lewis and all the rest on that stretch do also...

[AtW]

On Oxford Street nearly all shops accept them...Tourism is there trade there....only reason I know is that I spent some not long ago and realised that I can even buy a McD on Oxford Street with Euros! Hang the bastards! Treason! Im certain John Lewis and all the rest on that stretch do also...

Nothing suprising - when currency is plummeting staff of companies that deal with tourists who have desireable currency could do that exchange on their own and then put extra effort to get pounds for the company to cover the difference. More likely than not companies want to get euros - I just received today form from my bank to open business euro account - don't want to keep all money in pounds anymore. Dollar account may follow shortly

[Liability]

AtW the GBP will get stronger my friend - just wait a few more months.....true reflection on the issue is all it needs. I guess time will tell.....the gbp/euro cant stay on parity for too long.