Britons splurge £1.8bn in Europe

Britons are Europe's second biggest spenders when travelling overseas, according to figures published today.

The debit and credit card issuer MasterCard said that in 2004 its UK customers spent €2.6bn (£1.79bn) in Europe.

This is almost double the amount spent in the UK by card holders from other European countries, either visiting or shopping online, which totalled €1.38bn (£95m). Of this, some €313m was spent on hotels and €106m in clothes stores.

The report suggests that UK retailers are the biggest beneficiaries in Europe of the boom in online spending.

More than €662m in online spending in the rest of Europe was done on UK websites in 2004. This compares with just €123m of online spending with French retailers, although France was the second biggest online market.

The biggest cross-border spenders in MasterCard's survey were the Germans, spending a total of €3.5bn, €341.7m of which was spent in the UK. Travellers from the Netherlands came third on the list, after the UK, with a total spend of €2bn.

And shoppers from Germany were also the biggest spenders online, buying items worth over €250m from retailers in other countries. The Dutch ranked second, spending €193m, followed by UK shoppers, who purchased €146m worth of goods.

Based on the balance of revenue from foreign visitors and outbound spending by natives, Spain, France and Italy all saw money flow in, while Germany, the Netherlands and the UK saw a loss on spending on plastic.

MasterCard said that last year saw a substantial rise in the use of debit cards by UK consumers travelling in Europe.

In 2004, debit card usage was up 37% on 2003, compared with 22% growth across Europe, suggesting travellers from Britain are increasingly relying on their debit card overseas. Cross-border debit card spending through MasterCard totalled €4.5m in 2004, while credit card spending added up to €1.16bn.

"This report proves that we are winning the war on cash," said Paul Lucraft, vice president and general manager of MasterCard UK.

"The growth of debit and online spending shows that more and more people are recognising that cards can provide a level of security, control and convenience that is simply not possible with cash.

"We're also very pleased to see that our European neighbours are choosing to buy British when they shop online for the best deals."

The findings are based on transactions made on MasterCard credit cards and Maestro debit cards held in 24 European countries. They cover online and face-to-face purchases made from 15 categories of merchants, from airlines and car rental firms to department stores and food shops.

MasterCard claims to be the largest payment brand in Europe, with more than 350 million cardholders. This compares with a combined total of 281m Visa credit and debit cards in circulation at the end of March 2005.