The Czech Republic is one of the fastest growing holiday destinations for UK tourists, a bank claimed today

NatWest said requests for the Czech koruna had increased by more than any other currency during 2003, excluding the euro and dollar. Overall requests to buy koruna rose by 27% during the year, followed by requests for the Barbados dollar, which rose by 14%, and demand for the United Arab Emirates dirham, which were up by 10%. The bank also reported a rise in demand for the Maltese lira and Swedish krona, which rose by 8% and 5% respectively. Robin Cockburn, head of NatWest Travel Services, said: “Traditional Western European destinations are still very popular with holidaymakers and this year Spain has moved ahead of France for the first time. “But there is growing interest in destinations further afield, ranging from the Czech Republic to Barbados and the United Arab Emirates, and this in a year when the international scene has shown a significant reduction in global holiday travel.” The group also looked at which currencies were best value as a result of declining against sterling since the beginning of the year. It found that the biggest change had been to the Jamaican dollar, which had fallen by 26%, followed by the Mexican peso at 13% and the Polish zloty which is down 9% against sterling.