Pound rise eases pressure on travelling families "It's good news for Britons buying currency ahead of a trip to the eurozone," said a spokesman for Travelex, the foreign exchange firm. Weeks of speculation over the future of the euro, Spain's economic crisis, and the political uncertainty in France and the Netherlands, have seen the value of the euro fall to a level not seen for years. The spokesman said it was difficult to predict whether the trend would persist, but suggested that the euro was likely to remain a cause for concern, which in turn should continue to favour British travellers visiting the Continent. Anyone unwilling to bank on the pound maintaining its relative strength should buy their currency now, he advised. The outlook is also positive for anyone heading to Turkey or to central and eastern Europe. Since last summer, the pound has risen by 14 per cent against the Turkish lira, by 16 per cent against the Polish zloty, by 12 per cent against the Croatian kuna, and by nearly a tenth against the Bulgarian lev. It has also risen slightly against the US dollar and the East Caribbean dollar since the start of the year. With a large number of Britons expected to escape the country over the coming bank holiday weekend, and during the Queen's Jubilee celebrations at the beginning of June, the news should provide a pecuniary fillip for thousands of cash-strapped families. It will also soften the blow of increasing flight costs - last month Air Passenger Duty rose, adding between £4 and £28 to the cost of a holiday for a family of four, while fuel prices have risen steadily during the past year. As well as falling costs on the ground for holidaymakers, many tour operators are also cutting the price of their packages. The website Travelzoo, which publishes holiday deals from hundreds of companies, said that the price of breaks over the Jubilee weekend - which includes two consecutive Bank Holidays - had been cut by up to 60 per cent. "It's a real surprise to see such huge price cuts over a weekend when travel companies initially thought they would be cashing in," said Joel Brandon-Bravo, managing director of Travelzoo's UK operations. Bookings are slow and travel companies are doing all they can to fill capacity. Holidays to Greece have been discounted particularly heavily. The country has struggled to attract visitors in recent years and in February William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, announcing plans to evacuate Britons from the country in the event of major civil unrest. The statement prompted a further slump in holiday bookings, according to some tour operators. Olympic Holidays has cut the cost of hundreds of breaks by up to 50 per cent. Noel Josephides, the managing director of Sunvil Holidays, recently described the low price of some Greek packages as "ridiculous."