28 November 2007: New research commissioned by Travelex has found that 73 per cent of British travellers are unaware that Cyprus and Malta are due to change their currencies to the Euro on 1^st January 2008, even though Britons are the major visitors to both these countries.

With 57 per cent of travellers to Cyprus¹ and 38 per cent to Malta² being British, the upcoming currency change will affect hundreds of thousands of UK tourists. As the Cyprus Pound and the Maltese Lira are in the top ten currencies sold by Travelex, the foreign exchange expert is urging anyone who regularly visits, or has recently returned from these destinations, to use up or exchange their leftover local currency before it becomes redundant.

Steve O’Donovan, Regional Divisional Director of Travelex Outsourcing highlights the benefits of consumers transferring their leftover currency onto a prepaid currency card such as Cash Passport, “Our research shows that 50 per cent of travellers don’t exchange their leftover travel money³ . With the change in currency coming up in two major holiday destinations, we are urging travellers to make sure they don’t lose out. A Euro Cash Passport is a simple solution that lasts three years and offers more security and convenience.”

Jacqui Holt, Head of Sales, Financial Services at Thomas Cook agrees: “Cyprus and Malta are two of the leading destinations for our customers, many of whom visit frequently throughout the year. It’s concerning that so many people are unaware of the switch over to Euros. We offer prepaid currency cards at over 800 outlets across the country and would recommend anyone heading to these destinations for some winter sun to arrange their holiday money in advance.”

Cash Passport, available through Thomas Cook and Travelex bureaux, acts as a secure holiday money ‘savings plan’. It is a prepaid card that allows customers to load their spending money in advance and plan what they want to spend. As the card is PIN protected but not linked to a bank account, travellers benefit from peace of mind that their spending money is safe.

The Cash Passport card is free and can be used for three years. It is a simple and convenient way for travellers to keep their leftover foreign currency. For further travel money advice and competitive rates go to www.travelex.co.uk or visit Thomas Cook for advice and competitive rates.

¹ Visitcyprus.biz – total British visitors in 2006: 1,360,129
² Malta Tourism Authority – total British visitors in 2006: 431,340
³ YouGov, November 2007

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For more information, please contact Laura Zobel at Lawton on 02380 828561 or laura.zobel@lawton.co.uk.

Notes to Editors:

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1,983 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 14th - 16th November 2007. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

Travelex

Travelex is the world's foreign exchange and business payments specialist. Operating through subsidiaries and branches in four regions: the United Kingdom; Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA); Americas and Asia Pacific.

As one of the world's leading providers of outsourced travel money to banks, travel agencies and other retailers it provides products including its prepaid travel card Cash Passport to over three million channel customers annually. Through its world-leading automation Travelex offers consumers a full range of delivery channel options including telephone and web-based ordering.

The Cash Passport prepaid card is issued by Travelex Bank N.V, part of the Travelex group of companies.

www.travelex.com | www.cashpassport.com